The Midwest | JOYLAND

Excerpt: Above All Men

Eric Shonkwiler -

Months passed. He got a call from Glenn saying a railroad friend had come by, talking of a few half-starved horses by the state...

Current Events

Claire Harlan Orsi -

The beginning of the dinner party, the part I liked best, was always the same. Us kids ate pizza (gluten-free crust as of last...

Regular Old You

Karen Parkman -

Annie realizes while she and her boyfriend, Adam, are Christmas shopping that lately she doesn’t enjoy his company very much unless they are both...

The Tender Knife

Scott Dominic Carpenter -

Occasionally, Joyland's Midwest section highlights great small presses based in the Midwest. This story is part of the collection This Jealous Earth published by MG...

See You Later, Fry-O-Lator

Monica Drake -

This story is part of The Lineup: 25 Provocative Women Writers, out this October from Black Lawrence Press. The morning of my sixteenth birthday, I, Mademoiselle...

The New Inner Peace

Logan Scherer -

Everywhere I went, people did things for the right reasons. They helped others. They made friends. They avoided conflict. The world was full of...

Clarity in Three Colors

Cameron Stewart -

At the speed of sleep I shoot up the bathroom. Another tragedy on a Friday. I’ve unzipped my Gratuity Pouch, the one I put...

Glossary for the End of Days

Ian Stansel -

A. Avery. Town where the farm was, with the barn and the goats and the one cow, who was so old and sagged you could...

Felt Like Something

Megan Stielstra -

Excerpted from Once I Was Cool, a collection of personal essays now available from Curbside Splendor Publishing. My ovary is the size of a cherry...

Detroit Edison

Joseph Horton -

Editor's Note: This story is part of Joyland's Michigan stories series. * John R. Allen 509 N. Ulston Street, #2 Detroit, Michigan 48201 Mr. Allen, This is the final notice...