Issue 27, Summer 2020

Description

The intoxicating alchemy of Howe Sound Visitors by cover artist Mel Anastasiou blends the ephemeral and the enduring, a heady potion that infuses the stories within these pages …

• Friends and lovers dance and slide through memory in ‘Joran’s Song’ by Dave Gregory and ‘The Lover Snake’ by Tomson Highway.
• Life finds a way in two very different post-apocalyptic worlds as Jakob Drud in ‘Culinary Subjugation’ and Kim Harbridge in ‘Projections’ take us under the dome.
• Meanwhile, young and old experience the shapeshifting powers of perspective in ‘Dead of Summer’ by R Daniel Lester and ‘Linen, Leeks, and Blood’ by Kris Sayer.
• And success comes down to the powers of persuasion in ‘The Lion’ by Hannah van Didden and ‘Captain Hero was a Feminist’ by NRM Roshak.
• Emblematic of our genre-crossing ways, Pulp short-story alumni Erin Kirsh and Peter Norman return, this time with their words woven into poetry.
• The hive is buzzing with anticipation for this year’s Bumblebee Flash Fiction Contest stories! Winner Kate Felix claims the sweet top prize with ‘Shayna’s Eulogy’.  And whoever said no to a second (or third!) scoop of honey? Runner-up Kim Martins with ‘Let’s Start with the Horse’ and Mitchell Toews with ‘Piece of My Heart’ keep the delectable delights flowing.
• The accolades continue as we bring you ‘He Who Can Open All Doors’ by Crystal Bourque, Honourable Mention for the 2019 Surrey International Writers’ Conference Storyteller Award.
• Perennial favourites Frankie Ray and Allaigna return in this issue. Frankie is poised for her big Hollywood chance in Mel Anastasiou’s ‘Frankie Ray Stands Alone’, and Allaigna’s career takes a sudden leap after six years of military service in the new novella by JM Landels, Allaigna’s Song: Oburakor.

Find a secluded spot on the beach to spread your umbrella, sip a mimosa, and escape into world and words of wonder …