The first casting call was a genesis. I’m sure of it now. I walked into a warehouse on the southeast side of town.
Featured Fiction
Every Kind of Woman
Fountain of the Dying
by Austin Sanchez-Moran
On a whitewashed island in Greece, where the brass church bells chime out into the sea
every evening, there is a slender old woman in a red head scarf who yells out, “Soup! A scoop of
soup!” while banging her tin drum with a ladle and wandering the cobblestoned alleyways.
Out of Body
by Liza Olson
I am lying flat on the ground in a quiet living room in a quiet home in the kind of quiet suburb everyone’s at least driven through, if not lived in. I am breathing deeply, from my diaphragm, like the VHS instructed.
The Closet
by Julia Halprin Jackson
There were two beds in Little’s room. Put back to back they were as long as his father was tall. The walls were covered in a light floral print.
How We Were Born
by Lucy Zhang
During Lantern Festival, I compete against Brother to see who will fill up with tangyuan first.
Queer Fiction Writers:
Lydia Conklin Interviewed by Raki Kopernik
In this delightful collection of prize-winning stories, queer, gender-nonconforming, and trans characters struggle to find love and forgiveness, despite their sometimes comic, sometimes tragic mistakes. With insight and compassion, debut author Conklin reveals both the dark and lovable sides of their characters, resulting in stories that make you laugh and wince, sometimes at the same time.
Parts I Know
by Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera
I can see his whole face. He strolls toward me, grin wide, eyes shaded by blue Bruin cap.
No Story
by Himan Heidari
“Once, there was a little girl” no, not a girl, let’s make it a boy this time and wait, this is not a good way to start a story at all.
A Cow Stood In the Field
by Louise Bierig
A cow stood in the field. Amanda didn’t hesitate, but walked right over. She was paying $75 an hour to hug this cow, why hesitate? It would be her first hug in over a year.
Comprehension, If Not Closure: A Conversation with Riley Redgate
by Nathan Winer
Learning to separate your own interests away from those feelings of, “I should be more like this, I should be more like that”—that’s going to be valuable forever. And not just in writing.
