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May 2023 (Issue 91)

In this issue’s short fiction,  Anya Ow’s “God of the River” wades into family legends and survival, and “The Body Fate” by Avi Burton explores role, identity, and expectation; in flash fiction, Anne E.G. Nydam pieces together a new kind of narrative in “Some Assembly Required,” and “It’s What’s Inside That Counts” by Warren Benedetto delivers a slice of hard truth;; for poetry, we have “1960s With a Glass Harp” by Chinedu Gospel and “Legacy” by Anjali Patel. Plus an interview with Mark H. Harris about nonfiction book The Black Guy Dies First, co-authored with Robin R. Means Coleman. Enjoy!

Interview: Mark H. Harris

First, we love horror, and it’s what we’d watch by choice, even if we weren’t writing about it. Second, as previously mentioned, horror is particularly revealing about the nation’s fears and anxieties, and America has plenty of that when it comes to race. Third, while Black people have historically experienced marginalization in other genres, horror stands out because marginalization typically equates to death, a fate that is so blunt and dismissive that it draws attention and generates discussion—thus the well-known trope that gave us the name of the book.

Author Spotlight: Avi Burton

I write a lot about homelands—longing for them, feeling out of place within them, the mythologized ideal of them, etc. I like cathartic vengeance stories and reimagined myths. And, obviously, queerness, but that one is almost never intentional (except when it is). It’s just the lens through which I see the world, so obviously my stories will be biased towards it.

The Body Fate

In the wild backwoods of your country, an old belief persisted: Any curse or blessing that befell you would be repaid tenfold in ten years’ time. Small superstitions surrounded it—iron to ward off a reversal of fortune, witch hazel to hasten it—but everyone knew that no matter what you did, a decade later, change was coming for you.

It’s What’s Inside That Counts

“I can’t believe I have to miss Pig Day,” my twin brother Jeremy complained. He picked at the white medical tape on the back of his hand. The machine next to his bed whirred as it dispensed another drop of clear medicine into the tube attached to his arm.

Legacy

I am the child of fallen gods. This is how I know: / I found my parents’ altars in the attic, cobwebs nestled in the cracked stone / Mummified fruit, tarnished coin, cracked paint / The root of rot and metal and mildew that we can never air out the home

Author Spotlight: Anya Ow

I prefer to write stories where the main character has direct agency, so as the narrative progressed, there had to be a climactic moment where the story became more about her and her struggles than about the titular character, yet it also had to work out in a meaningful and believable way.

God of the River

The beheaded tilapia nudged teasingly against the riverbank in a bloody soup, staining the lush weeds beneath the little girl’s feet. Oblivious to the stench, she squatted beside the muddy water, her gaze tracking over the dead fish. There were a dozen of them, freshly killed. Flies had only just begun to settle over silver flanks, scuttling shyly over tooth marks.

Editorial: May 2023

In this issue’s short fiction,  Anya Ow’s “God of the River” wades into family legends and survival, and “The Body Fate” by Avi Burton explores role, identity, and expectation; in flash fiction, Anne E.G. Nydam pieces together a new kind of narrative in “Some Assembly Required,” and “It’s What’s Inside That Counts” by Warren Benedetto delivers a slice of hard truth;; for poetry, we have “1960s With a Glass Harp” by Chinedu Gospel and “Legacy” by Anjali Patel. Plus an interview with Mark H. Harris about nonfiction book The Black Guy Dies First, co-authored with Robin R. Means Coleman. Enjoy!