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SHORT STORIES

Image is a color photograph of baby socks on a clothesline; title card for the short fiction story "Wet" by Jaclyn Desforges.

Wet by Jaclyn Desforges

November 10, 2023

  Mother, this house is full of babies. From the mouth of the kitchen I hear their cooing and from the top of the staircase I hear their cooing. I stand and hear their cooing from the living room. I…

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Image is a color photograph of a clothesline outside an apartment building; title card for the first-place winner of the 2023 Short Fiction Prize, "Blackbird" by Chinonyelum Anyichie.

“Blackbird” by Chinonyelum Anyichie

October 27, 2023

  Ifunanya called you ugly, and you answered her with a slap. A slap so charged it was the envy of thunder, and you didn’t even care you were in Chuckies, the school restaurant, teeming with people eating, laughing, coming…

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Image is a color photograph of the silhouette of a bird on some tree branches; title card for the second-place winner of the 2023 Short Fiction Prize, "A Line of Wings" by Uyen Phuong Dang.

A Line of Wings by Uyen Phuong Dang

October 20, 2023

  Dau used to live in the apartment below me. He had skin so dry it fell like leaves on a windy day, so much he pixelated his floor with tiny fog-colored flakes, each thin and flappy as a plastic…

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Image is a color photograph of striped pillows on a bed; title card for the third-place winner of the 2023 Short Fiction Prize, "Cillian" by Janey Tracey.

Cillian by Janey Tracey

October 13, 2023

  When the night was over, and everyone else had gone, Cillian took me to an Irish bar, scratched the small of my back, and told me his theory of everything. He told me political polarization was related to wave…

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Image is a color photograph of red wine on a tree stump in the middle of a field; title card for the fiction story "The Ghost of Amy Winehouse" by Clara Otto.

The Ghost of Amy Winehouse by Clara Otto

September 8, 2023

  Content Warnings—alcohol overdose, death   Welcome to the Grocery Supreme Aptitude Test™. This test is divided into the following five sections: Commuting and Tardiness, Opening Duties, Product Management, Customer Service, and Long Answer Questions. A few important notes: You…

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Title card shows a cluster of cacti against a background of gray sky; title card for the new short story, "The Bodies," by Andrew Potter.

The Bodies by Andrew Potter

August 11, 2023

  Our therapist made us go camping. Her suggestion was to sleep outdoors for three nights and then get a hotel room. She said camping would force us to rely on each other for comfort, and the hotel stay would…

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Image shows a pair of round-rimmed glasses sitting upon a piece of brown cardstock; title card for the new short story, "The Ten Deaths of Mrs. Haverhill’s Second-Grade Class," by Sam Berman.

The Ten Deaths of Mrs. Haverhill’s Second-Grade Class by Sam Berman

May 12, 2023

  I think it matters that her husband was older. He owned his own house when they met. He also owned a coffee shop on Lattimore. And Mrs. Haverhill, then—to distinguish herself from the other long-necked, loose-sweatered girls in the…

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Image shows a pool with lanes in an auditorium, with blue pennants hanging above; title card for the new short story, "Old Harry's Daughters," by Julianna Waters.

Old Harry’s Daughters by Julianna Waters

March 24, 2023

  Content Warning—child sexual abuse   Tansy My sister, Liberty, tells me I need to exercise, that it cures all ills. Well, I don’t see how swimming cures hers. All it does is dry out her hair. Jolee, my youngest…

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Photograph depicts a white rat sleeping inside a wicker shelter with a blurred human figure in the background; title card for the new short story, "I Saved You in Every Life," by Lucy Zhang.

I Saved You in Every Life by Lucy Zhang

February 17, 2023

  In David’s previous life, he was a mad scientist. According to him, I was a lab rat. I’m chopping the remaining half of a watermelon and am more concerned about the ant infestation I had eliminated yesterday because I…

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Image is a photograph of twelve cowboy hats hanging on a wall; title card for the new short story, "Costumes," by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala.

Costumes by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala

January 20, 2023

Content Warning—domestic abuse   He likes to wear a cowboy hat when he fucks her. She is eighteen, wears her hair traditional—its length snaking down her athlete’s body, a body slowly giving way to womanly curves. She doesn’t know enough…

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