Issue 28 Cover

Spring 2023

Issue 28

Issue 28 explores the politics of domesticity, the confusion of desire, and dreams of mysterious strangers, flying over borders, and living under a seat in an abandoned movie theater like a desperate, hunched troll. All that, plus tropical maladies, suicidal impulses, sexual obsession, decaying memories, stolen trucks, honking cars, creepy houses, electric crickets, humiliation, and writers who die too young. It’s a vulnerable issue — truthful and deluded.

Featuring new short fiction, poetry, CNF, translations, and art from Cástulo Aceves (translated by Michael Langdon), Victoria Ballesteros, Nikki Barnhart, Sophie Bebeau, Israel Bonilla, Ellis Elliott, Vilde Fastvold (translated by Wendy H. Gabrielsen), Bo Huston, J.G. Jesman, Marream Krollos, Edward Lee, Marina Mariasch (translated by Ellen Jones), Blue Neustifter, Evan Nicholls, Dale Peck, Matthew Roberson, Evan Williams, and David Wojciechowski.

Excerpt from Marriage

Marina Mariasch
Translated by Ellen Jones

“In relationships, everything that matters is hidden and should remain so for the benefit of all major stakeholders. Dirty laundry is a research tool that allows us to penetrate the deepest folds of the conjugal fabric.”

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Torch Song of Myself

Dale Peck

“The first man I was sexually attracted to was Luke Skywalker. The first man I loved shot one of his johns when he was fifteen. The first man I had sex with was my best friend in college.”

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The House

Nikki Barnhart

“When my childhood was over, I moved out. There was a big, old house on the far end of town, convenient to nothing. No one wanted to go over there, much less live, but I could afford it, everything that it had to offer.”

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The Chinkhoswe

J.G. Jesman

“Chitsanzo, whose name means “example,” is very pleased with his outfit for the wedding. He has no idea who is getting married, but the local saying is that, Ants don’t need an invitation to enjoy sugar.”

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Tijuana

By Victoria Ballesteros

“In dreams, I glide past borders and through concrete doors to reach places I have never left. I fly over green picket fences and bougainvillea trees adorned with slivers of the past.”

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Agónico Marcial 1960 – 1994

Israel Bonilla

“Agónico’s childhood belongs to myth, and it is now irretrievable. We know with confidence that he was born in Visalia. All other information has been gleaned from his letters to Segura.”

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Excerpt from Fieldwork

Vilde Fastvold
Translated by Wendy H. Gabrielsen

“In the institute corridors, people whisper that having sex in the field is something everyone does, but no one talks about. I haven’t asked anyone if it’s true because I’d rather console myself with the thought that fieldwork is messy and can’t be pinned down by ethical absolutes.”

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A Sudden Set of Stairs

Evan Nicholls

“Nobody asked for it, but there it is. In the way of honking cars and bighorn sheep and clementine oranges. People yelling for it to get out of the way, and watch out.”

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Reflections in a Window

Cástulo Aceves
Translated by Michael Langdon

“Two men appear at the door of the airport. The first of them is the client; the second, much older, an investigator. They feel the cold air of the country they are visiting, on a continent where they are foreigners.”

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The Waiting Dreamer

Blue Neustifter

“There were only two constants to the dreams: her and him. No matter where she was, no matter how lush or barren the landscape, he was there.”

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It Being Fall

Matthew Roberson

“Out and out again into the car. He’s not driving. Not. He turns for the seat belt and reaches and then lets the woman lean over and take hold and pull it to close with a click. She’s driving, the woman.”

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Plans for a Project

Bo Huston

“What follows are transcripts of interviews made sometime in the summer and autumn of 1983. I was so much younger then. I was sad, lonely, optimistic, radical (but a little too cautious to be radical). I took all the drugs that came my way, fucked with all the men who came my way … laughed a lot, but that was becoming a struggle.”

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