miCRo: “Neat Freak,” by Katie Cortese
Managing Editor Lisa Ampleman: In Katie Cortese's deft hands, this story juxtaposes the greatest kinds of loss with the mundane details of a life lived in the aftermath. Medieval torture shares a paragraph with the limitations of automatic doors at a gym, and "Windex...
miCRo: “The Slabs” by Bruce Johnson
Assistant Editor Caitlin Doyle: In Bruce Johnson’s unsettling and Kafkaesque flash-fiction piece "The Slabs," we enter a world that brings to mind the 1960s television series The Twilight Zone and the more recent Netflix series Black Mirror, wildly popular...
miCRo: “Summer Dawn, Summer Nightgown” by Brendan Galvin
Associate Editor Caitlin Doyle: In “Summer Dawn, Summer Nightgown,” Brendan Galvin invites us to glimpse a burgeoning romance between two people who have found each other during their later years (“at our age as intricately twined as though / we are life’s...
miCRo: “Spin” by Tara Isabel Zambrano
Associate Editor James Ellenberger: It's rather incredible how dense and interesting a relationship Zambrano explores in such a short space. Part of that, I think, lies in the author's ability to plant details in way that feels simultaneously cyclical and...
Margaret Emma Brandl’s “Mukbang”
Assistant Editor Molly Reid: Margaret Emma Brandl's "Mukbang" is a subtle critique of our current political situation, a nod to fake news, an exploration of cultural preoccupations with image and internet celebrity, and a sensory extravaganza—in 378 words. It's...
miCRo: “Suburban Legend #3” by Catherine Pierce
Associate Editor James Ellenberger: I love hitchhiking scenes in poems and stories. There's something marvelously dramatic about two strangers putting their trust in each other, if even only for the next fifty miles. Here, matter-of-fact narration ("The woman...
miCRo: “The Rape of Europa” and “Incensing the Veil” by Lesley Jenike
Assistant Editor Caitlin Doyle: It’s a joy to present the first double feature in our miCRo series, a pair of interrelated flash essays, “The Rape of Europa” and “Incensing the Veil,” by Lesley Jenike. In these sharp-eyed and stirring pieces, we’re prompted to...
miCRo: William Woolfitt’s “They Are Still Here”
Assistant Editor Molly Reid: America is no stranger to appropriation. It is, some might say, part of our country's DNA. Whether it's the latest in sports mascots or our president's decision to reduce national monuments and open pipelines on native land, it's...
miCRo: Martha Silano’s “Gifts for the Adventurous Man”
Assistant Editor Caitlin Doyle: In “Gifts for the Adventurous Man,” Martha Silano borrows an advertising slogan from Ibex clothing as a framing device for a sonically driven exploration of the relationship between language and power. Though rooted in our...
miCRo: Joshua Jones’s “Icebox”
Associate Editor James Ellenberger: In "Icebox" Joshua Jones explores a lesbian relationship between two aging women, focusing on a visit from one of their families after Sunday services. What I love about this story is how effectively the characters allow...
miCRo: G.C. Waldrep’s “new year’s poem”
[Editor's Note: Today's miCRo is a special New Year's treat; we'll be back with more short, tasty miCRo pieces later in January. Happy New Year!] Assistant Editor Caitlin Doyle: In “new year’s poem,” G.C. Waldrep engages with the work of Joseph Cornell,...
miCRo: Doris Cheng’s “Earthling”
[Editors' note: The miCRo feature will take a month-long hiatus, with the exception of a special New Year's Day poem. Thank you for your support in 2017; see you in 2018!] Managing Editor Lisa Ampleman: As we told her when we accepted "Earthling," Doris Cheng...
