The Literary Issue

The Brits used to be proud of the saying, “The sun never sets on the British Empire.” Those days are long gone, thankfully, but the phrase came to mind when considering the writers featured in this new issue. Our writers this time hail from Canada, Ireland, Israel, Puerto Rico, and Australia, in addition to the continental United States. Instead of being united by subjugation, these talented people are connected by a passion for writing. So you might say the sun never sets on great storytelling.

There is movement, however glacial, toward this form of unification. It’s mostly visual and digital, but the core of it is the human need to tell and to hear stories. It is what connects us and what helps break down barriers between us. Perhaps the truth of that lies within the fact that despite our many technological advancements, so many people still take joy in writing and reading the old-fashioned way, in a simple book with words on pages.

We hope you enjoy this one.

– Joe, Zac, Renee, Marci, David, Zoë, Ronak, Lauren, Ai, and Tommy

Table of Contents (click the links for stories and excerpts)

Hunting Crows Year-Round, Phillip Scott Mandel
Love Drips and Gathers, Fiachra Kelleher
A Room for Your Name, Rolando André López Torres
Patrimony, Dave Karrel
The Leaf Queen, Carolyn Fay
Barbed Wire Fence, Carl Meuser
The Edge of Elsewhere, Margaret Irish
No One Looks Up, Julia L. Offen
Kisses, Lilian Cohen
Molyneaux’s Problem, Kate Krautkramer
The Hey, Emilee Prado
Make Up the Difference, Henry Presente
About the Cover
Issue 6 Contributors

If you like what you see here, please consider purchasing a copy of the issue using the sidebar to the right. A pdf is a mere $3, and a print copy is $10.99.

Issue 13:

The Literary-Speculative Issue

Much of the fulfillment readers and editors of literary journals experience comes from publishing the work of writers who are as yet unknown, but whom we believe will go on to successful, maybe famous, careers in the industry. It’s why we do what we do (because it sure ain’t for the money). While not every author included in this issue may achieve that level, we believe they deserve it. We think it’s one of our best, and we hope, after reading the stories, that you agree.

A new feature: Since we receive submissions and publish stories from authors around the world, in this issue we’ve added countries or states of origin to the beginning of each published piece.

– Joe, Zac, Renee, and the Orca staff

Table of Contents (click the links for stories and excerpts)

About the Cover Artist
Power, Sway Benns
Redbuds, Karen Chaffee
Plastic, YJ Jun
If She Got Away, Francesca Leader
Fossils, Pauline Holdsworth
Particle, Christine Fischer Guy
Between Two Waves, Katie Cervenec
The Nightingale Upon a Well-Sewn String, Ella T. Holmes
The Elf Queen of New Orleans, Greta Hayer
That Which Rises, K. Wallace King
Signs of Damage, Stacy Trautwein Burns
Playground Games (Double-Dutch), Gina Thayer
First Family of Mars, Libby Cudmore
The Last Addict, Sam Asher
Contributors

Please consider purchasing a copy of the full issue. A pdf is a mere $4, and is available in our bookstore. A print copy is $11.99 on Amazon.

Editor’s Note: We have not Americanized spellings and grammar native to other English-speaking countries, but have left them in their original form in order to fully convey the voices of our authors.