I normally post these round-ups from the previous month’s social media short story and poetry suggestions on the first Monday of the month. However, the first Monday of September is a holiday (since I work in academics) and this year I had house guests. I had far less time to do some of my writerly stuff than I expected. And so, Augusts recommended stories and poems failed to make it to a round-up.
Better late than never. Here are the twenty (20) stories and poems I suggested for reading in August.
Diabolical Plots published
The Sharp Cry of the Winterlarks by Arden Baker in June.
I had some time to catch up on my reading yesterday and DP never disappoints! This ethereal flash, so poetic, is simply beautiful.
The Last Optician by Ann Calandro in July.
A bleak outlook on the trend of the future of the USA.
Crepuscular Magazine published
Instructions for Building Your Replacement You™ by Eric Fomley in April.
Oof, this one hits hard.
Rent-a-Human™ FAQ by Rodrigo Olivares in July.
We know where this is going, but I laughed at fully functional humans identifying bridges.
The Hanging Vine by Leila Murton Poole was published at Wyldblood Press in 2023.
Never lose belief in the magic in the world. See it all around you lest your heedlessness be your folly.
Small Wonders published:
we are all made of star-stuff by Ash Vale in June.
I love Ash’s work. This poem turns a familiar Sagan quote on its head.
Your Cause and Your Effect by Ian Li in June.
This poem feels like an ode to a beloved science teacher (said as a scientist who teaches.)
Waiting to Become True by Samantha Murray in June.
This one feels very neurodivergent to me, an ND individual.
Visit the Last Gas Station in the World by Lesley Hart Gunn in July.
This one felt like an ode to the ’60s muscle car I drove in high school – a car that was double my age when I took the keys. This feels like one of those stories the author wrote just for me.
annika barranti klein recommended in her newsletter:
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
This one is a nod to @noirbettie.bsky.social who’s March newsletter brought it up and I had never read it. Her whole newsletter was a lesson in things I half-know.
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
Most of us have read it, sure. But if you follow me elsewhere, you’ll know I didn’t read for 2 weeks while I listened to Muse’s new album. In Be With You, he references this poem.
Your Mother’s Speech-to-Text Instructions for Visiting Nana by Parker M. O’Neill was published at Night Shades in July.
This is hilarious and horrific and frighteningly real and accurate and relatable all at the same time.
Inner Worlds published:
Dead Letters Written in Pomegranate Ink by Madalena Daleziou in March.
Is it a fairy ring or the land of the dead? Who is living? Who is left behind?
Out of Pocket by Soramimi Hanarejima in March.
I love that mother can rewind time, and it’s no big deal, except it seems others can’t do the same.
States of Matter by Elizabeth Cobbe in March.
A thesis on religion, g-d and suffering.
The Deadlands published:
The Self-Made Women’s Circle by Marisca Pichette in January.
Women take themselves apart and put each other together. We start young and it never ends.
The Breeze & the Black Door by Mack W. Mani in March.
This is gorgeous.
Otherside Magazine published
First to Rot by J.N. Howell in June.
Two very different worlds handling death in different ways, and two people forced to face it a third way when the time comes. What a wonderful love story.
Mother Mansrot in the Glass Mountain by Sarah Pauling in March.
How could she sit in an icy room with nothing in it but a four-poster bed and pace, and pace, and let the filth of the world watch her, and not want to smash through the glass with her own two hands?
“believer’s peak” by Ian Li was published at The FairTales
I love when a story I got to read an early version of is published! This story has so much world building in such a short space.
I suggested far more stories and poems than I thought I would. I hope you enjoy them!