In this issue
Follow cover artist Akem's Selfie into myth and mystery with 'The Tales of Fanon and Gavroche' by feature author Renée Sarojini Saklikar.
Make connections over seemingly impossible gulfs with 'Downwelling' by D Marmara and 'M4R1NR' by Mike Carson, and discover what the nighttime holds in Mel Anastasiou's 'Moonlight Over Paradise Gardens' and Part 4 of 'Their Grandfather's Chair' by JM Landels.
Fly away with a gorgeous mischief of three very different Magpies by Pattie Palmer-Baker, Angela Rebrec, and Elizabeth Cockle, and then come home to nest with Sierra Louie's elfin adventurer in 'If I Could Hide Away Anywhere'.
Have a stiff drink with Melissa Ren at 'The Midnight Diyu', or pick a potion with Lena Ng in 'The Curse of the Chattering Skull', while you mingle uncomfortably with strangers in Mitchell Toews's 'The Light Pool' and William Kitcher's 'I Can't Tell You That'.
Renee Sarojini Saklikar is the author of five books, including the award-winning Children of Air India and Listening to the Bees. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies, including Exile Editions, Chatelaine, The Capilano Review, and Pulp Literature. She was Poet Laureate for the City of Surrey (2015-2018), co-founded Lunch Poems at SFU, and teaches creative writing at Douglas College. Bramah's Discovery, the third volume of her epic fantasy in verse series, THOTJBAP, is forthcoming in 2026 with Nightwood Editions. She lives in East Vancouver. 'The Tales of Fanon and Gavroche' is a work in progress, excerpted from Bramah's Discovery.
JM Landels is the author of the bestselling Allaigna's Song trilogy, and of the spy novel The Shepherdess, currently serialized in this magazine. This story, featuring Allaigna's sisters Branwen and Irdina, takes place during the events of Allaigna's Song: Chorale. When she's not writing, editing, or drawing, you can find Jen teaching people to swing swords and ride horses at Academie Cavallo in Langley, BC. You can find @jmlandels on most social media platforms, or at jmlandels.stiffbunnies.com.
Mel Anastasiou writes the Fairmount Manor Mysteries, the Monument Studios Mysteries, and the Hertfordshire Pub Mysteries, available at pulpliterature.com. She won a Literary Titan Gold Book Award and was longlisted for the Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for her novel Stella Ryman and the Fairmount Manor Mysteries. Look for The Labours of Mrs Stella Ryman, available through online booksellers and at Pulp Literature Press.