Author: Heavy Feather

Three Poems by Jen DeGregorio

Jesus of Coal “I was listening to an echo.” —Nick Lowe They say coal is deadbut I’ll bring it back. Just let metouch it. See itignite. Smell its per-fumes. In the new worldcoal will help youmake friends. Rub a charred pieceon your neck to enhanceyour scent. Dump barrels of coalin front of your house for…
Fiction: “You Shouldn’t Have Done It” by Ace Boggess & Jennifer Lynn Hall

Warren watched her stagger along the riverbank, drunk or maybe crazy. He thought about the definition of ‘alone’—a series of basic words that would’ve tumbled with her as she nearly fell. His legs buckled when she leaned. If she jumped, he thought, it would be his lungs that filled themselves with water. He looked at…
Three Poems by Nate Marshall

landing Surprise escapes your lips as you soarinto the sinking of having your shinskicked from under you. If you’re luckythe full nelson that folds arms origamiwill keep your knees from crashinginto the concrete. Your flight will bebrief. Pray you have enough timeto kick back into the kneecapof the third assailant. If the fourth memberof the…
“Living in a Lonely World”: Samuel Stolton Reads Leyna Krow’s I’m Fine, but You Appear to Be Sinking

If ever “reading” was to be considered a solitary enterprise, one is ironically sure to be acquainted with a fair few lonesome characters in Leyna Krow’s short story collection, I’m Fine, but You Appear to Be Sinking, published by Featherproof Books. An ominous sense of abandonment abounds throughout the stories, and the reader is immersed…
Fiction Review: Tyler Barton Reads Ottessa Moshfegh’s Homesick for Another World

The final story in Ottessa Moshfegh’s third book of fiction starts with the sentence, “I come from another place.” If Homesick for Another World contained an opening epigraph, this might be an apt one. To be clear, the collection is not a work of speculative fiction, nor is it sci-fi, fantasy, or even magical realism.…
James Ardis Reviews Exits by Daryl Seitchik

*Ed.’s Note: click images to view larger sizes. When I first heard about Daryl Seitchik’s comic Exits, the story of a woman who works at a mirror store until she achieves (or is cursed with) full invisibility, I felt confident I knew where the story would go. I figured Claire, the now invisible protagonist, would…
Two Poems by Linette Reeman

As Donald Trump Is Being Inaugurated a girl and i stagger out of a tear-cloud and shakeinto each others’ mouths. there is no one i loveout of necessity, but this is a love hatched undera sky bursting and marred by flames. a week later, the joke is still good. we started dating becausea riot bloomed…
Four Illustrations by Jon Read

*Ed.’s Note: click images to view larger sizes. Smoke Signals Inside Fun Lake Mutant Love Mutant Attack A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Jon Read is a graduate of Kent State University. His style is influenced by visionary folk art and neo-expressionism. His paintings portray a strong narrative, telling stories heavily influenced by comic books, cult films,…
“I, Too, Am Ruining My Own Life”: Jesse Rice-Evans on Gwen Werner’s I’m Ruining My Own Life

Gwen Werner gets me: anxieties about gender, sexuality; being a total nihilist but loving my nest anyway; trying to not be an awful straight-passing feminist; surviving, but barely. Werner stumbles through life, but her voice is unwavering: she might hate herself, but she knows how to shape a story, and, maybe most importantly in short-form…