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SHORT STORIES

Image is a color photograph of a toy horse; title card for the new short story, “Horse Mother,” by Franz Jørgen Neumann.

Horse Mother by Franz Jørgen Neumann

May 9, 2025

  “My stepdaughter is a horse.” The school psychologist waits for me to say more, then resumes her review of the pedagogical strategies she and Lilja’s teachers have employed. She speaks at a clip that makes me wonder if her…

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Image is a photograph of a large fossil in orange dirt; title card for the new short story, “Thin Places,” by Emily Giangiulio.

Thin Places by Emily Giangiulio

March 14, 2025

  We fill up on deep-fried bricks of cheese and rib eyes big as our heads at Burly’s Roughrider Bar & Steakhouse. Our neatly laced Merrells and moisture-wicking Patagonias set us apart from the mud-splattered, steel-toed boots under most every…

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Image is a black-and-white photo of a taxidermied weasel; title card for the new short story, “Sherlock Holmes and Harry Houdini Make Out in Wisconsin Weeks Before Disaster,” by Francis Van Ganson.

Sherlock Holmes and Harry Houdini Make Out in Wisconsin Weeks Before Disaster by Francis Van Ganson

February 14, 2025

  When considering the mysterious circumstances at the centre of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes says to Watson that in order to begin, there are two questions that must be considered. Firstly, if a crime has been committed at…

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Image is a color photo of caribou silhouetted on a hillside; title card for the new short story, "After Skim-Reading Jack London on the Plane," by Elissa Field.

After Skim-Reading Jack London on the Plane by Elissa Field

January 10, 2025

  “The fuck you take your gloves off again?” you growled, never letting up, the oldest. Brother trip, our third in two years, anywhere there’d be northern lights.  We hiked out of the frozen Alaskan woods—the black-dark, wraith rider intimidation…

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Image is a color photograph of red tea kettle and white teacup on a table; title card for the new short story, “Abecedarian,” by H. B. Asari.

Abecedarian by H. B. Asari

November 8, 2024

  Zones of your brain affected: frontal, temporal, parietal. The doctor points at them in turn on the scan of your brain. Those traitorous parts, shrivelling out of existence, threatening to take pieces of you with them. I look from…

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Image is a color photograph of two entwined wedding rings with a shadowed background; title card for the first-place winner of the CRAFT 2024 Short Fiction Prize, “Hold On,” by Toni Martin.

Hold On by Toni Martin

October 25, 2024

  I should have noticed when my wedding ring fell out of my pocket. I should have heard it strike and plink on the concrete floor in Big Willie’s dressing room behind the bar when I slung my jacket over…

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Image is a color photograph of a dirty keyboard; title card for the second-place winner of the CRAFT 2024 Short Fiction Prize, “Pretend,” by Mary Williams.

Pretend by Mary Williams

October 18, 2024

  Pretend I am your mother. Pretend you love me the way you did when you were small, and the world was big, and you could still feel, in some deep primordial way, that not so long ago, my body…

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Image is a color photograph of palm trees and rising ocean water; title card for the third-place winner of the CRAFT 2024 Short Fiction Prize, “Island Girl,” by Shivani Manghnani.

Island Girl by Shivani Manghnani

October 11, 2024

  The Marine said his name was Dusty. She said hers was Laila, which was the name on the fake ID Kareena presented to the bouncer at the Wave Waikiki. If Crystal hadn’t led the way in a tube top…

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Image is a color photograph of a bouquet of peonies in shadow; title card for the new short story, "Corpse Washer," by Jennifer Springsteen.

Corpse Washer by Jennifer Springsteen

September 13, 2024

  How to Wash the Dead Lenten, pansy, crocus, snowdrop   Lewellen Hubbard was the corpse laid out before me. With my sponge soaked in sweet oil—Lenten and crocus blossom—I worked around the old scars on her arms: slash marks…

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Image is a color photograph of two healthcare figurines; title card for the new short story, "The Interview," by Daniel Frears.

The Interview by Daniel Frears

August 9, 2024

  1. The day had been long and pleasant and I was dozing off in the early evening to the sound of leaves rustling. The wind would come around the side of the house and blow through the karaka trees…

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