In this issue, you will find a slew of stories, a plethora of poems, and a host of heartbreaking, hopeful, honest content. (You are instructed to please pronounce the h.) Find the god that lurks in polluted waters in "The God Who Never Sleeps Dwells Under an Inky Sea" by A. W. Prihandita, and weep over the ghosts that you may never find again in "The Coral Tombs" by Eric Raglin. Cure your heartbreak in "Bleeding Hearts" by Suzan Palumbo, and discover your father in unexpected places in "Giant Killer Shark" by Timothy Mudie. In "The Poison You Leave" by Krystle Yanagihara, settler colonialism marks the land, but we have the tools (and righteous monsters) to clear it all away, and in "A Good Catch" by Stacie Turner, make a promise to the sea that will be hard to keep.
If poetry is more your speed, come with us to Nigeria and watch the roads turn to rivers in "Somewhere in Nigeria" by AbdulBasit Oluwanishola, or raise your voice with the women and hear the many tongues of grandfather mouth in "Black Bile" by Chinedu Gospel. Else you might face the coming storm in "Category 4" by West Ambrose, read the words on the tomb of the world in "Epitaph of a World on Fire: An Abecedarian" by Jessica Peter, or refuse to be the princess they want you to be in "Meat, Bone, and Soul" by Beth Cato.
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Abi Stevens is an illustrator/artist based in Suffolk, UK. She creates vibrant, emotive and powerful digital illustrations to inspire, educate and prompt conversation. Driven by curiousity Abi draws on her own experience of chronic illness and neurodivergence as well as a life-long love of fantasy, historical art and nature to fuel their creative fire.
The God Who Never Sleeps Dwells Under an Inky Sea by A. W. Prihandita
The Coral Tombs by Eric Raglin
Bleeding Hearts by Suzan Palumbo
Giant Killer Shark by Timothy Mudie
The Poison You Leave by Krystle Yanagihara
Epitaph of a World on Fire: An Abecedarian by Jessica Peter
Meat, Bone, and Soul by Beth Cato
Somewhere in Nigeria by AbdulBasit Oluwanishola
Letter from the Editor by Leon Perniciaro
Short Fiction Review — September 2024 by Danai Christopoulou