Nonfiction | JOYLAND

Descent

Sloan Asakura -

My great-grandpa José arrived in El Paso, TX by way of barbed wire. He walked through Mexico deserts, his legs carrying him amongst the...

Reservations at the Polo Lounge

Liska Jacobs -

When you first pull up to the Beverly Hills Hotel it presents itself as a fortress, and it relies on this impression to keep...

The Burden of Joy

Lexi Kent-Monning -

I know Big Sur in my bones, in my skin, in the scar on my throat from when I was a baby. The jagged,...

She Elegies

Chris J. Rice -

A Work of Speculative Nonfiction 1. Sick with what I hope is a cold, I call to cancel an appointment and the woman who answers must...

I Just Wish You Did Too

Emily James -

I push the toes first, then heels. Press so hard until it feels like I might fall, like the bike pedals could crack beneath...

With and Without Regard for Rhythm

Wendy C. Ortiz -

Changes I’ve made since learning I have atrial fibrillation, in no order whatsoever, possibly as arrhythmic as my heart: I have read, bought and...

Portrait of a Prisoner

M. Sullivan -

Image, ink on paper “Watch your step, n.d.” courtesy of Ricco/Maresca Gallery Joe Massey - 75209: a name and a number. An odd signature—odd even...

Lawn Enforcement

Monmita Chakrabarti -

Baba comes back to Dublin, Ohio from his two-week trip to Kolkata on a sunny Saturday afternoon. After hugging his family and taking his...

The Featherweight

Amanda Oliver -

A bird with one gnarled leg and foot came to visit my bird feeder every morning last February. I was getting up around five...

And It Was Running Thin

Claire Phillips -

Excerpted from A Room with a Darker View: Chronicles of My Mother and Schizophrenia The rift between my mother and I intensified as the accusations...