David Hansen
A Bird

David Hansen - A Bird

Fiction
David Hansen's stories have appeared in Fence, Conjunctions, Puerto del Sol, and elsewhere. He lives and teaches in upstate New York. Read more of his work at www.davidddhansennn.com. Read more »
Maureen Tai
A Cupful of Fish Food

Maureen Tai - A Cupful of Fish Food

Creative Nonfiction
Maureen Tai has a multi-faceted literary career as an award-winning published children’s author, adult fiction and non-fiction writer, accidental poet and book reviewer. Her works have appeared in… Read more »
Tom Busillo
Another Day in Paradise

Tom Busillo - Another Day in Paradise

Fiction
Tom Busillo's writing has appeared or is forthcoming in McSweeney's, trampset, The Disappointed Housewife, Heavy Feather Review and elsewhere. He is a Best Short Fictions nominee and the author of the… Read more »
D.E. Hardy
Back Together Again

D.E. Hardy - Back Together Again

Contest - Flash Fiction
D.E. Hardy's work has appeared in Pithead Chapel, X-R-A-Y Magazine, Lost Balloon, and Flashback Fiction, among others. Her work has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize and anthologized in Best… Read more »
Michael T. Lawson
Because You Asked How I Could Stand Math

Michael T. Lawson - Because You Asked How I Could Stand Math

Poetry
Michael T. Lawson studied poetry and biostatistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning a PhD in the latter and fostering a love of the former. His work has been published in… Read more »
Adriana Beltrano
Hurricane Shutters

Adriana Beltrano - Hurricane Shutters

Poetry
Adriana Beltrano is a poet from Jupiter, Florida. She is pursuing her MFA in poetry at Johns Hopkins University, where she is a managing editor of the Hopkins Review. She was named a 2024-25 Jake Adam… Read more »
Corey Zeller
It’s Not the End of the World, but I Can See It from Here

Corey Zeller - It’s Not the End of the World, but I Can See It from Here

Contest - Prose Poem
Corey Zeller is the author of Often You Light a Fuse to Prove You Won’t Explode (BOA Editions, 2027) and three other collections. His work has been published in Poetry, The Kenyon Review, New… Read more »
Tim Stobierski
Jellyfish

Tim Stobierski - Jellyfish

Poetry
Tim Stobierski writes about relationships, presented through the lens of his own experiences as a queer man. Recent poems are published or forthcoming in Chestnut Review, Gay & Lesbian Review,… Read more »
Andrea Figueroa-Irizarry
Lapagería

Andrea Figueroa-Irizarry - Lapagería

Fiction
Andrea Figueroa-Irizarry is a Puerto Rican writer, editor, and college instructor currently based in Tampa, Florida. She writes fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry around themes of family, mental… Read more »
Kate Broad
Lipstick

Kate Broad - Lipstick

Fiction
Kate Broad is the author of the novel Greenwich. She is a Bronx Council on the Arts award winner for fiction, and her work appears or is forthcoming in The Rumpus, No Tokens, The Brooklyn Review,… Read more »
Cammy Thomas
Lunch With My Aunt

Cammy Thomas - Lunch With My Aunt

Poetry
Cammy Thomas’s most recent book is Odysseus’ Daughter (Parkman Press, 2023), poems written in response to the Odyssey. Three previous poetry collections were published by Four Way Books. Cathedral… Read more »
Fay Sachpatzidis
Root Lady

Fay Sachpatzidis - Root Lady

Creative Nonfiction
Fay Sachpatzidis is a writer and poet based in New York City. Her writing has appeared in Prairie Schooner, The Normal School, and Bodega Magazine, among other places. Read more »
Stefan Balan
Snowfall

Stefan Balan - Snowfall

Poetry
Stefan Balan is a Romanian-born American living in the Greater Boston area, where he works as an oncologist. In Romania he published one book of poetry and co-authored a volume of film criticism about… Read more »
Carson Wolfe
Strange Baby

Carson Wolfe - Strange Baby

Poetry
Carson Wolfe is a Mancunian poet and Grand Prize Winner of The Disquiet Literary Program 2024. Their work has appeared with Poetry Magazine, The Rumpus, The Common, and Rattle. Their new book Coin… Read more »
Julie Marie Wade
Swimmingly

Julie Marie Wade - Swimmingly

Fiction
Julie Marie Wade's recent collections include The Mary Years (Texas Review Press, 2024), selected by Michael Martone for the 2023 Clay Reynolds Novella Prize; Quick Change Artist: Poems (Anhinga… Read more »
Sam Flaster
Todos Tienen Su Final

Sam Flaster - Todos Tienen Su Final

Fiction
Sam Flaster is a Cuban, Jewish, American writer based in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently working on a coming-of-age road trip novel about love, loss, family narratives, and the first-gen immigrant… Read more »
M.S. Reagan
Tornado Family

M.S. Reagan - Tornado Family

Contest - Flash CNF
M.S. Reagan, originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a writer and MFA candidate at WVU in Morgantown, West Virginia. His poetry appears in Appalachian Review, and he was a finalist for the 2024… Read more »
Dolapo Demuren
Woo-Jin

Dolapo Demuren - Woo-Jin

Poetry
Dolapo Demuren is a Nigerian-American writer and educator from the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. He received his B.A. in Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University, M.F.A. from Columbia… Read more »

Lunch With My Aunt

Cammy Thomas

Where was that restaurant she used to take me to, a tiny French place with steep stairs going up, somewhere in the East 80s, too expensive for me, an omelet and a white wine, surrounded by women with styled hair, heels, fancy shopping bags. I loved that place because I loved her. I couldn’t answer the questions she asked: How were my parents? Was I happy? It felt safe there, no men, no loud noises except laughing sometimes, and hearts of palm salad with lemony vinaigrette, me just learning to drink, and a comfortable buzz after, when she left for a meeting and I staggered around the Met looking for Greeks and Egyptians. I always visited the mummies, many on display back then when it didn’t feel wrong to stare— just an archaic warning. How imagine the world with her not in it? Her apartment looked out on 85th and Fifth. A glass dolphin on her windowsill made a prism on the opposite wall. Deep in winter the snow fell quietly on Central Park and on the gray roofs of the Museum.
Read more »