Panzanalia
Her mother had become a vegan. She rhymed it with “pagan,” like it was a religion. Which, the daughter thought—she shook the limp herbs dry—it was. They were making…
The Visible Woman
Shortly after college, I bought The Visible Woman for fifteen dollars from a little yellow antique store in my hometown. I’ve carried her with me for years. The name…
Lucky, Lucky, Lucky
The baby was stealing my sleep. “Only three days old, and already a thief,” I said. “Don’t be silly. This precious angel?” My mother took her from me, making…
Salamander Fiction Contest 2021 Results
Winner Nicole Simonsen, "Lucky, Lucky, Lucky" Nicole Simonsen’s short stories have appeared in Booth, Tin House Online, Washington Square Review, and elsewhere. She teaches at a high school in Sacramento,…
Negotiation With Life: Minus One by Doris Iarovici
Minus One by Doris Iarovici (The University of Wisconsin Press, 2020). Moments of regret permeate the stories in Doris Iarovici’s new book, Minus One, a collection of studies…
Context and Culture: Breathing Technique by Marija Knežević
Breathing Technique by Marija Knežević (Zephyr Press, 2021). In a selection of excerpts from “The River’s Name,” the standout poem of Breathing Technique (Zephyr Press, 2021), Serbian writer…
For the Living and the Dead: Funeral Diva by Pamela Sneed
Funeral Diva by Pamela Sneed (City Lights Books, 2020). In an interview on the Ezra Klein Show, the two-term American poet laureate Tracy K. Smith describes poetry as…
On Coming of Age: An Incomplete List of Names by Michael Torres
An Incomplete List of Names by Michael Torres (Beacon Press, 2020). Michael Torres’s powerful debut, An Incomplete List of Names, opens with an act of loyalty—the kind that…