Kaala Paani by Mandira Pattnaik Bakru can’t sleep because his father can’t because his mother can’t, so he turns on the bed rags and watches the rain through the open window, rain so insistent it doubles up to cover for…
RRS Discovery
by Struan Gow RRS Discovery: She cannot glimpse the sea. She cannot feel it wrap around her hull—salt within the wood, burning hot to cold warping her skin. She cannot hear its rhythm like she cannot hear her heart. They…
The Inheritance
The Inheritance by Joyce Bingham I have never been alone in this room. The heavy door closes behind me, the rest of the house hidden from sight and I from them. My footsteps falter. I look down at my feet…
A Quiet Day in Hell
A Quiet Day in Hell by Mary Byrne In a corner of verdant countryside, a priest’s mother is washing an accumulated several months of linen sheets in a giant pot over an outdoor fire. She moves them around occasionally, raising…
The 1796 Spinning Wheel List
The 1796 Spinning Wheel List by Karen Walker Pursuant to the Scheme offered for encouraging the Growth of Flax throughout the Kingdom, to the Person who shall sow a quantity of land with a sufficient quantity of good sound Flax,…
Der Bibliophile
Der Bibliophile by Nicola Davison My timeworn lungs buckle, but I don’t want to close the window. I push it wide open to be reacquainted with Freud, Kafka, and Hemingway as they rise, shifting and swirling to reach me. It…
The Peony Hairpin
The Peony Hairpin by Q.Y. Tie The empress dowager whispers open the seals between her selves. The empress stabs the dying emperor with her peony hairpin, watches his blood spurt in impossibly bright streaks, listens to his impossibly hurt accusations.…
Harald Hardrada Intensifies
Harald Hardrada Intensifies by Lindz McLeod As history tells it, Harald Hardrada waded into the battle of Stamford Bridge with both hands on his sword, cutting men down left and right. Buoyed by battle-rage, he refused to wear body armour…
Fragments
Fragments by Katie Oliver 1. Eve has been informed by her mother of what is to happen: there can be no negotiation. She smooths her brown dress over her knees, focusing upon the weave of the linen; the pulled threads…
Enkidu’s Harlot
Enkidu’s Harlot by Patience Mackarness Back then I was a legend, at the top of my profession. They called me queen of harlots. When rumours of Enkidu first reached the city of Uruk, I was planning my retirement. I had…