Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction “Shovel birds in silver tides,” Sammy read aloud from his flippy little notebook. We were huddled on a bench on the wind protected side of the park. We’d just been kicked out of the library for loitering, where Sammy was scribbling down lines he liked from … Read more
Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction A majestic lioness bears down upon a helpless young antelope. The carcass of its mauled mother sprawled, bloody, nearby. The tawny calf stands motionless – paralyzed by fear or too innocent to comprehend death – as the powerful jaws close around its delicate neck. However, surprisingly, … Read more
Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction My city-boy-turned-country-boy wants us to move but how can I go? I’ve lived here through bombs, heatwaves, riots. Recessions, states of emergency, killer viruses. Nothing mars my devotion. The City can survive anything, and that makes me feel like I can too. My body has absorbed … Read more
Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction Wish Fairy: Tell me again. You: It’s the lecture I’ll give when I’m forty-three. My wife will give me a blow job that morning. Then I’ll catch that early cab. I’ll notice my suit fits me exceptionally well. Mingling will feel better than it ever has … Read more
Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction The man sat in his chair, staring straight ahead, unblinking. A passerby might find this strange: the rigidity of his back, the thinness of his mouth, and the look in his eyes, reminiscent of a man heading into combat. They might wonder why a young man … Read more
Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction A panting wolfhound. A lovers’ parting kiss. A giant’s severed head. The drifting clouds above the fairies’ hawthorn sprang to life in his mind’s eye. “Get up, ye lazy sod!” Ned’s raven-haired mam planted her boot squarely on his backside and Ned tumbled down the mound, … Read more