We needed this . . .

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The earth is doomed.

The earth is doomed.

and we thought you might need it, too. We usually shy away from topical pieces, but Joanna Arnow’s “First week after the election” is a powerful exception.

We’re presenting it today, on its own, to spotlight its timeliness, but a large part of what makes it so effective is how it transcends the particulars of a single event and its aftermath and evokes feelings of uncertainty, helplessness, and longing–of needing to understand and be understood, and the frustrations of having those desires thwarted by internal and external forces–in a way that is timeless and profoundly, painfully human.

Issue Eighty-Five Is Live!

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jpd-cover-jan-17As one year shambles off into the sunset like zombie rhinoceros and another dawns as bright as fragrant as citrus dish detergent, we offer up this double handful of literary delights: Heather Lee Rogers’ “Gonzo Feline Dream” (read it to your cat!); Emily Weber’s “And a Time to Die” (read it while listening to The Byrds!); Martha McCollough’s “Mary Worth” (read it to someone with white hair!); C. B. Auder’s “The Bowls, the Buttons, and the Baskets” (read it to an inanimate object that actually isn’t!); Josh Epperly’s “Mutually Agreed Upon” (read it in your favorite restaurant!); and Isha Ro’s “Georgie” (read it when you’re feeling lonely!). Also worth noting is the cover art, Darin Forrest’s “Dead Reclining” (show it to a philosophical robot!)

Tickle it online or Elmo the pdf.

Hope this year is a good one for you and the world.

JDP Pushcart Nominees

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pushcart_cyclopsWith time’s Tupperware lid poised to seal in the last of 2016’s leftovers, we are thrillighted to share with you our Pushcart Prize nominees for this year, presented here in alphabetical order:

“The Adventure of the Etheric Projection” by Pat Woods

“hinky man” by Natasha Burge

“Life on Mars?” by Dana Mele

“Queen of the Moon” by Emery Ross

“So, Below” by Jeremy Packert Burke

“What You Deserve” by Tabitha Pearson

As always, it was really tough to winnow down the list to just six pieces; every issue we publish has a selection of stories and poems that impressed us so much we had to share them with the world. Congratulatory high-fives to our nominees, and heartfelt butt-bumps of thankfulness to all of our contributors, submitters, and readers. Without you, we’d just be screaming into the void (literally and metaphorically).