The Fam Roundup: April 2021
We keep track of all our staff and contributor accomplishments in a gigantic Google doc, and April 2021 took up SEVEN PAGES. Please enjoy this supersized monthly roundup!
Books
Justin Jannise’s collection How to Be Better By Being Worse is available now from BOA Editions
Tommy Dean’s short story/flash collection is forthcoming from Alternating Current
SJ Sindu’s debut graphic novel Shakti is forthcoming from HarperCollins
Threa Almontaser’s collection The Wild Fox of Yemen is available now from Graywolf Press
Elisa Gabbert’s book Normal Distance is forthcoming from Soft Skull Press
Former contributing editor Christopher Gonzalez’s book I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat is now available for pre-order from SFWP
Former poetry contest judge Chen Chen’s book of craft and personal essays, In Cahoots with the Rabbit God, is forthcoming from Noemi Press
Meg Pokrass and Aimee Parkinson’s collection Disappearing Debutantes is forthcoming from Outpost19
Publications, Interviews, and Reviews
Justin Jannise’s poem “Mercury in Retrograde” found a home in Southeast Review
He also has work in the Spring 2021 issue of The Pinch, along with Sarah Fawn Montgomery
Southeast Review published Brandon Taylor’s story “Otto”
Davon Loeb’s essay “Breakdancing Shaped Who I Am As a Black Man and Father” was published in Catapult
His SLM memoir “My Mother’s Mother” will appear in the forthcoming A Harp in the Stars anthology from University of Nebraska Press
Monica Brashears’ story “Revelations of a Midnight Plume” appeared in Nashville Review
Her story “The Trouble with Snakes” was published in Appalachian Review
John Miguel Shakespear’s story “A Year of Drought, a Year of Forgetting” was published in the Summer/Fall 2021 print issue of Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast also published Gina Chung’s story “Honey and Sun”
Her story “The Love Song of the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat” appeared in F(r)iction
Her story “How to Eat Your Own Heart” appeared in Catapult
torrin a. greathouse’s poem “SICK4SICK” also appeared in the recent issue of Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast published K. Iver’s poem “God” as well
Devin Kelly published three baseball poems in Hobart
Two more of his poems appeared in Flypaper Lit
Gaia Rajan’s poem “Self-Portrait as a Mermaid or Dead Girl” was featured in Jeni De La O’s Brown Study series on The Poetry Question
Her poem “Notes on Transmutation” found a home in Muzzle
Tommy Dean’s story “An Approximation of Melody” was published in New Flash Fiction Review
(mac)ro(mic) published his story “A Parallel Universe of Unmatched Anger”
No Contact published his story “Among Their Skin”
Robert James Russell’s piece “By Way of the Green Line Bus” found a home in HAD
His “Origin Story: Purple” and “Origin Story: Wood” were published in Gulf Coast
Todd Dillard’s poem “Garbage Day” was published in Aquifer: The Florida Review Online
His poems “One Hundred Thousand Bells” and “The Museum of Walls” found a home in Sixth Finch
Autofocus published his poem “Gardening is Also What You Cut”
matchbook published Gabrielle Griffis’ flash “Bowerbird”
Her story “Reasons to Admit” was published in Vol. 1 Brooklyn
New World Writing published Christopher Allen’s story “Missing Person”
SJ Sindu’s essay “Citizenship” was published in Kenyon Review
Vi Khi Nao’s online chapbook Every Dress is a Simile found a home in The Offending Adam
The Offending Adam also published former poetry reader Jessica Q. Stark’s INNANET: Love Poem for the Internet
Her poem “Nervous Endings” found a home in Moist Poetry Journal
Rachel Mans McKenny’s essay “Take Me Out But Bring Me Back, Too” appeared in Hobart
Elle published her essay “I Got Bangs But It’s Not a Cry for Help”
Alina Stefanescu’s poem “Maggie, We Keep Driving” appeared in Moist Poetry Journal
High Shelf Press published her poem “[3rd Child]”
The Cincinnati Review published her piece “Why One Cloud is Kin to Not Liking”
Managing editor Wendy Oleson’s story “Elbow Magic” was published in Atticus Review
Tyler Barton’s piece “Asterisk” appeared in HAD
His story “The Hell” was published in The Adroit Journal
His story “Seven Corners, Pennsylvania” was published in The Common
Treasurer and flash reader Ruth LeFaive’s prize-winning story “With a Glistening Rush” was published in Fractured Lit
Her prize-winning story “It Will Be All of These Things” appeared in CRAFT
Memoir editor Krys Malcolm Belc’s forthcoming book The Natural Mother of the Child made Berkeley Fiction Review’s Spring 2021 Editors’ Most Anticipated list
Krys’ book and contributor Courtney Cook’s illustrated memoir The Way She Feels: My Life on the Borderline in Pictures + Pieces both made Bustle’s list of “51 Debut Books to Look Forward to this Spring and Summer”
He interviewed Beth Kephart for The Adroit Journal
Threa Almontaser’s poem “Portrait of This Country” was featured in Poetry Daily
Sudha Balagopal’s story “Bitter Hot Chocolate” was published in Monkeybicycle
Splonk published her story “Fresh-Green Saplings”
Her story with Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar, “Car Nicobar, 2004,” was published in Schuylkill Valley Journal Online
Jellyfish Review published Melissa Goode’s story “Lux Aeterna”
Kim Magowan and Michelle Ross were interviewed in Flash Monsters
Kim’s piece “So Yeah, I Cop to That” appeared in Flash Boulevard
Darren C. Demaree’s poem “heavy spring” found a home in Pine Hills Review
Claire Rudy Foster reviewed Martin J. Smith’s Going to Trinidad for High Country News
Their story “The Rain Artist” appeared in Oprah Daily
(mac)ro(mic) published Hannah Grieco’s story “The boots you bought me for Christmas”
Jason B. Crawford read their poem “After Twerking in White Spaces” for Button Poetry
Four Way Review published two of their poems
Kara Vernor’s piece “Am I” was published in Oyez Review
Her stores “The Critic” and “More Sex” appeared in Juked
Former flash contest judge Bryan Washington’s piece “TY, Love You, See You Soon” was published in The New York Times Style Magazine
Diannely Antigua appeared on an episode of The Line Break podcast
Raven Leilani’s novel Luster made BBC Culture’s list of “The Best Books of 2021 So Far”
The Sewanee Review published four poems by Shane McCrae
Memoir reader Christopher Louis Romaguera published “Reading The Transmigration of Bodies” in Ploughshares
Cortney Lamar Charleston and Ross Gay were featured in Essence’s list of “20 Poets You Should Know”
Aruni Kashyap was profiled in the latest print issue of Writing Magazine
Ra’Niqua Lee’s story “Pour the Salt” found a home in Watershed Review
Ilana Masad reviewed Lauren Hough’s book Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing for NPR
jmww published Kristine Langley Mahler’s piece “One Mouth, Two Fingers, Fourteen Years”
Zach Linge’s poem “Every Song You’d Play While High is Haunted Now” found a home in Court Green
Former assistant flash editor Lori Sambol Brody’s story “Rosh Hashanah, 1967” was published in trampset
Helen McClory was interviewed in The Times
Meg Pokrass’ story “Neurology” found a home in As It Ought To Be
Kathy Fish appeared on the Micro podcast
Mandana Chaffa shared “Twelve Poetry Collections to Read in 2021” in The Chicago Review of Books
Fractured Lit published David Byron Queen’s story “A Nice Blue Place”
His story “The Barcelona Chair” appeared in Schuylkill Valley Journal Online
James Tadd Adcox’s story “The Hotel” was published in The Rupture
Poetry editor William Fargason’s poem “Arrowhead” found a home in Southern Humanities Review
Sabrina Hicks’ piece “Suburban Flight” was published in Fractured Lit
Barren Magazine published assistant fiction editor Exodus Oktavia Brownlow’s story “Chicken-Girls and Chicken-Ladies and All the Possibilities of Pillowcases”
Ecotone published three stories by Cathy Ulrich
Her story “All the Stars We Contain” was published by Jet Fuel Review
She was interviewed in Hello, Author
K-Ming Chang’s story “Radish Head” appeared in matchbook
Group Chat Review published her story “Pre-Eviction, 1992”
Former editorial assistant Anna Vangala Jones’ story “Summer Love” appeared in Barren Magazine
Monet P. Thomas has a piece in the forthcoming anthology Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us
Flash reader Star Su’s piece “Excerpt from the History of Clocks” found a home in Jellyfish Review
Josh Denslow’s story “Breakable” was published in Grub Street Literary Magazine
Steven Duong’s poem “Ordnance” was published in Guernica
Protean Magazine published his poem “Curfew”
Assistant fiction editor Janelle Bassett’s story “Missing Enough to Feel All Right” appeared in Okay Donkey
Maggie Su’s story “Sucker” was published in Four Way Review
Wigleaf published two micros by Matt Greene
Awards, Honors, and News
Brandon Taylor is a finalist for the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award
Brandon Taylor’s Real Life, K-Ming Chang’s Bestiary, Raven Leilani’s Luster, and Bryan Washington’s Memorial have all been long-listed for the 2021 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award
Davon Loeb is now an Assistant Features Editor for The Rumpus
Gaia Rajan is the first place winner of the Princeton Leonard P. Milberg poetry prize for her poem, “Simple Machines,” originally published in COUNTERCLOCK
Leesa Cross-Smith is judging Carve Magazine’s Raymond Carver Short Story Contest, deadline May 15
Alina Stefanescu and Hannah Grieco are judging Versification’s writing contests, deadline May 15
Sudha Balagopal’s manuscript Things I Can’t Tell Amma was highly commended in the Bath Flash Fiction Festival’s Novella-in-Flash 2021 award
Elisa Gabbert’s book The Unreality of Memory and Other Essays is a creative nonfiction finalist in the Colorado Book Awards
Darren C. Demaree is judging Five South’s Prize for Poetry, deadline 6/14
Emma Ramadan won a PEN Translation Prize for her work on Abdellah Taïa’s novel A Country for Dying
Flash reader Tammy Heejae Lee and contributor Timea Balogh are 2021 Steinbeck Fellows
Poetry editor William Fargason’s collection Love Song to the Demon-Possessed Pigs of Gadara has won the 2020 Florida Book Award Gold Medal for Poetry