Author Archive
Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “Wagyu Fungo” by Soon Wiley
I remember a conversation I had with a professor in grad school, where we discussed the various blessings and difficulties of trying to produce art using the same materials—language—used for so many other, less graceful, purposes (for example, junk mail and mudslinging). In “Wagyu Fungo,” (Harpur Palate) explores a
The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “Nashua” by Sara Majka
A critique often heard in creative writing workshops is that the protagonist of a story is too observational—read: passive—and not enough involved in the action, rendering a story that is either too “quiet” or a protagonist with too little at stake in the outcome of the plot. I think
The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “Ghost Jeep” by Micah Dean Hicks
When one deals with loss they also, inevitably, also end up exploring the nature of justice in the world: whether matters of life and death are indeed fair, or something else entirely. In “Ghost Jeep,” (Sycamore Review) Micah Dean Hicks navigates these questions through three ghosts who meet a
The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “Sudden Squall” by Judy Reeves
Leaving one’s spouse takes a lot of courage, and in the culture of the 1950s, that was even more the case. In “Sudden Squall” (Connotation Press), Judy Reeves explores a mother making that difficult choice, employing a particular sentence structure to shape the thematic content and reveal her protagonist’s character. Two
The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “Bethlehem” by Chika Unigwe
In “Bethlehem” (One Throne Magazine), Chika Unigwe explores the ways in which a community’s sources of pride and ignorance can cause tragedy in the lives of those who don’t fit into the conventional molds. In the first section, Unigwe presents clues to the conflict between the protagonist Chimelumma and
The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “What to Do When Your Spouse is Burning” by Matt Cashion
In his short story, “What to Do When Your Spouse is Burning” (Moon City Review), Matt Cashion uses a list of instructions to subtly reveal the dissolution of a marriage. Cashion’s narrator begins by offering wry examples of what not to do when one’s spouse is burning. Don’t waste
The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “Off Days” by Shane Jones
In the flash fiction piece “Off Days” (The Adroit Journal), Shane Jones captures the comedy in the small moments characteriing his day-by-day struggles with memory loss before a full shift in his reality becomes manifest. We meet Ted and his wife Gina at the supermarket. Ted mistakes a younger
The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “Men and Women Like Him” by Amber Sparks
In “Men and Women Like Him” (Guernica), Amber Sparks explores dark tourism from the perspective of a time traveling tour guide who must ensure that historical tragedies don’t change—even when those tragedies become personal.Sparks drops us right into scene in the first couple paragraphs, letting the action and scenario
The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “The Matchmaker” by Karen Palmer
In “The Matchmaker” (James Franco Review), Karen Palmer stays tight to her characters’ moment-by-moment experiences, which helps the potentially polarizing events of the story elude simple definitions. What’s revealed is the tragedy of a mental institution unable to adequately serve the population it’s responsible for. In the opening few
The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “Beach Boys” by Michelle Meyers
In these modern times, we have greater access to the news of the wide world than ever before. In the flash fiction piece “Beach Boys” (decomp), Michelle Meyers explores two twins who tried their best to avoid the headlines of their times, only to be drawn in despite their