Consulate | JOYLAND

Steamboat

Kwan Ann Tan -

The weekend my cousin got into the University of Edinburgh, our entire family was invited to Big Uncle and Aunt’s house for a steamboat...

Deserted

Hadley Franklin -

Over and over through the long hot days, the sun bearing down on the island so hard it seemed vengeful, Thora wished she had...

The Father Scale

Scott Broker -

Three years after our son Mack disappeared, I found him on the back deck, sitting in the dark as if it belonged to him....

More Ham

Greg Marshall -

The rest of us gave speeches at Dad’s funeral. My sister Moe’s eulogy took the form of an interpretive dance. I can still picture...

Mercy

Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí -

Mama Agbor’s Joint used to be at the tail-end of Alapini Street, directly opposite our house. It was a small kiosk under an Udala...

Soil

Arianna Reiche -

The drain fly doesn’t move, even when she slaps the wall. It’s alone. To the naked eye he could be a fleck of filth,...

Some Stairs Only Ever Descend

Kathy Nguyen -

We snuck into the conservatory that evening when the caretaker forgot to lock the door before heading home. It wasn’t so surprising; we had...

A Family Palimpsest

Jonathan Fine , translated from the Hebrew by Yardenne Greenspan -

I’m writing these words from a spacious, well-lit, near-empty room. The nine hours I spend here every day are perfectly silent, save for the...

Chameleon

Frankie Concepcion -

When I was child, my mother would sometimes take me to sing at strangers’ funerals. She would pick me up after school or from...

Excerpt from Hivernages (Wintering)

Maude Deschênes-Pradet -

They say that Ville-réal was once an underground transportation system that crisscrossed beneath a metropolis. Back then, its only inhabitants were either poor or...