Archives

THE HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE FOREST BURNS by Timo Teräsahjo

January 15, 2026

The boy stood barefoot in the snow, staring at the house, a blaze of light in the darkness. It seemed like all there was in the world. The living room window gaped open; green curtains fluttered in the wind, oddly soft and warm. The shouting had stopped. Only the murmur of the spruces remained. He closed his eyes and imagined waves crashing on smooth rocks, the air salted with mist. He was very young, not even ten. His mother had pushed him through the window, and he did not know where to go. The front door banged open. His father

FOLLOWING THE THREADS: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN HASKELL by Rebecca Gransden

January 14, 2026

How to move. John Haskell’s Trying to Be (Fiction Collective Two, 2025) plots the potentials in life by means of undefinable and expressively changeable essays. Always shifting, the collection weaves around the central conundrums of existence, and in so doing implicates itself in this unceasing mystery. At once a humane interrogation of headspace and exploration in what it means to pass through the world as a physical being, Haskell’s work teems with the presence of the engaged observer, caught in the maelstrom we sometimes call reality. I spoke with John about this slippery and enigmatic book. Rebecca Gransden: You

OBJECTS FROM FILMS by Marcus Merritt

January 12, 2026

Ghost World (2001) The Terminator (1984) The Thing (1982) I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians (2018) Crumb (1984) Marnie (1964) The Hit (1984)

BLOND CANYON by Ariel McCleese

January 7, 2026

It happened in four parts: 1. Driving on the 134, a whirlpool of leaves in the fast lane. Languid, suspension of air and oaks. 100 Animals! sound book shrill in the backseat. Mommy! Guess! A tapir? Lying in the lukewarm pool of the Los Angeles Zoo. Its heat radiant. Ladybug? A series of noises chosen at random, a constellation of voiceover sounds. A friend demonstrated once. The way she recorded Target commercials from her coat closet. Toucan? How does the color of its beak translate sonically? Mommy! Guess! Should I have taken her to school today? The car buffeting back

BIG KARMA COMIX by Mahendra Singh

January 6, 2026

VACUUM by Filip Jakab

January 5, 2026

“Choke me!” Vinnie yells. His skaterboi Gen-Z body—a pale, rampant, mangled flesh to be further detested, desolated, deprived. Though the flesh and bone he otherwise soothes with a daily intake of smoothies that include collagen, selected antioxidants, and protein powders. He drinks a lot of purified water. He’s one of the lost by-products of his generation. He nourishes his Promethean body to the max so Sean can destroy it. He pumps it up twice, three times a week, with an unfuckable gym bro who goes by Dixon in the city center. Post-pump, they take dumb selfies (he never shows them to Sean).

X-R-A-Y 2025 SAMPLER

January 1, 2026

in 2025, X-R-A-Y published 169 things ! we read 2,808 submissions & accepted 114. here are some favorites for u to sample. but first, a big thank u to all the editors & readers ! Joshua Heppburn / short story editor / joshuahebburn.wordpress.com Rebecca Gransden / interviews & reviews editor / rebeccagransden.wordpress.com Claire Hopple / fiction editor / clairehopple.wordpress.com Alice M / short story editor / instagram: @notveryalice / bodyfluids.org Tex Gresham / fiction editor / squeakypig.com Michael Todd Cohen / creative nonfiction editor / michaeltoddcohen.com Jo Varnish / creative nonfiction editor / jovarnish.com Chris Dankland / managing editor,

FROM A DONOR FILE by Christian TeBordo

January 1, 2026

Charles “Chip” Prime, Jr. has no previous connection to the University and was not considered a prospective donor prior to his contacting this Advancement Officer requesting an urgent meeting at the Quattro Bar of the Four Seasons in East Palo Alto, California. Chip contacted Officer directly by text message, and when Officer attempted to explain that the Bay Area was not part of his regional portfolio, offering to forward him to the relevant staff member, Chip replied that the Bay Area was not his region either, and that he only wished to speak with Officer, being familiar with certain work

APPRAISAL by Sam Corradetti

December 31, 2025

I’m the ripped jeans and dirty flip-flops type. Vaselined lips, no eye liner. Zip-up hoodies and flannels looted from my father’s closet keep me mostly covered, worn loose enough to capture the coveted sirs and young mans while I navigate crowds at the deli counter. Weddings, however, mean dresses. As a bridesmaid, I am spared the search for some tolerable combination of lace, sequins, tulle, fringe, satin. Every detail of dress, hairstyle, jewels, shoes, nails, lip gloss, panties, and—ugh—strapless bra has been mapped out for me. The other bridesmaids crowd me, brandishing mascara wands and crimpers and elastics and hairspray

MEMOIRS IN THE MORAL MUD: DAVID LEBRUN AND JOSHUA MOHR TALK SHOP

December 30, 2025

My debut memoir, Delirium Vitae (Tortoise Books, 2025), recounts five months of hitchhiking and street busking I did from Costa Rica to Phoenix Arizona, in 2001, when I was broke and struggling with addiction and mental health issues. In 2020, I was halfway through editing my memoir, when the pandemic left me happily unemployed. I read Joshua Mohr’s Sirens and discovered he offered editorial service through his Decant Editorial. We worked hard on my manuscript for three months, but what stuck with me most was his encouragement and certainty that the book would find a publisher. Four years later, when