Issue 21 / Spring 2020 — Coming May 15th!
Creative Nonfiction
An Annotated Bibliography of Queer, Disabled Love
“These are the kinds of queer stories young readers, like myself, needed and continue to need today. It’s so important to have these stories to tell readers that they aren’t alone. They may spend late nights questioning what their identity is, but they don’t have to do it all by themselves.”
Ways of Grieving for You
“I’m not sure if I’m scared of death, or if I fear the thought of the last time seeing someone.”
Fencing the Table
“I used to think that there was one voice of Christianity. It was individualistic and regressive, and held no attraction for me. If I had encountered a more progressive vein of Christianity when I was young, I might have given church a try a lot sooner than I did—at the age of thirty.”
Fiction
The Kidnapper
“He knew as a boy that kidnapping was the most symbolic act possible: that’s why kidnappers steal from people, not because they want the ransom money, but because they want the power that comes from knowing that what they steal means more than the thing itself.”
Da Pier
“The kids who like money always wait on the dock for see if da tourists going throw money or not… I just sit on the side and wait for ‘em to pass. Some of the kids show off doing flips. I just roll my eyes.”
Torque
“But at The Sunshine Grille, Murdoch was still a dishdog and, top or bottom, he got the same treatment.”
Hybrid Spotlight
J. Is Cute and All, But He Ain’t So Cute That I Cain’t Do Better
“So let me unbuckle this belt, unlock this man, and set him free;
swing these brick house hips right on down the block.”
Book Review
“Inside the Labyrinth”: Review of Julie Zuckerman’s The Book of Jeremiah by Hannah Phillips
“The truth is, we know this story. It is the labyrinth we’ve all been inside of, the web of secrets, desires and expectations that exist between ourselves and the people we love most.”