Micro

Lisa Suhair Majaj is the author of the prize-winning poetry volume Geographies of Light, published by Del Sol Press. Jimmy Santiago Baca is a Chicano and Apache poet living in New Mexico. Jericho Brown is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Deesha Philyaw is the author of the award-winning short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. “Aysha” is a woman from Kabul, Afghanistan.

Aysha on Reveal: https://revealnews.org/podcast/for-20-years-i-saw-no-peace/

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A message from Team Micro.

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Meghan Phillips is the author of chapbook "Abstinence Only" and has stories in Best Microfiction 2019, 2020, and 2021. Zoe Contros Kearl is a writer and editor based in rural Vermont. J.B. Stone is a Neurodivergent/Autistic writer, slam poet, editor and literary critic from Brooklyn, now residing in Buffalo, NY. Kendra Fortmeyer lives and writes in Austin, Texas. Megan Pillow is co-editor of The Audacity, and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in, among other places, in Electric Literature, SmokeLong Quarterly, The Believer, TriQuarterly, and Guernica.

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Sean Pravica is a Californian writer and the author of Hold Still Fast, a collection of stories fifty words and under, and Stumbling Out the Stable, a novel. Patrick Roche is a queer poet, mental health advocate, and Carly Rae Jepsen enthusiast from New Jersey. George Saunders is the author of eleven books, including Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for best work of fiction in English.

(Transcript)

Welcome to Micro, a podcast for short but powerful writing. I’m your host, Drew Hawkins. 

Love, death, and Halloween decorations. This episode is an homage to- and a cautionary tale- of time passing in the suburbs. This first piece is both brief and vivid, emphasising the proximity of everyday life to death. It’s called “Sign of Life.” It was written by Sean Pravica and published in The Citron Review. Enjoy.

“Sign of Life” by Sean Pravica in The Citron Review 

Sean Pravica is a Californian writer and the author of Hold Still Fast, a collection of stories fifty words and under, and Stumbling Out the Stable, a novel. You can find him on Instagram at @Sean_Pravica, or on his website at seanpravica.com.

Our second piece encapsulates childhood in suburbia, filled with memory and juxtaposition between then and now. It’s called “Suburbs in July.” It was written by Patrick Roche and appears  in his book A Socially Acceptable Breakdown, out now from Button Poetry.

“Suburbs in July” by Patrick Roche in A Socially Acceptable Breakdown (Button Poetry)

Patrick Roche is a queer poet, mental health advocate, and Carly Rae Jepsen enthusiast from New Jersey. You can find him on Twitter at @PatrickPoetry, on Instagram and Facebook at @PatrickRochePoetry, or on his website at patrickrochepoetry.com. 

In our final piece, a son‘s perspective offers insight into a father‘s growing obsession, the result both comedic and a little heartbreaking. It’s called “Sticks.” It was written by George Saunders and appears in his collection, Tenth of December, published by Penguin Random House.

George Saunders is the author of eleven books, including Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for best work of fiction in English. You can find his website at georgesaundersbooks.com.

Micro is edited and curated by Dylan Evers, our social media is managed by M.M. Kaufman, and the show is produced and hosted by me, Drew Hawkins. Our theme song is by Matt Ordes. Audio of “Sticks” excerpted courtesy Penguin Random House Audio from Tenth of December by George Saunders, read by the author. 

You can find all of the information about this episode’s writers, their featured work, and the publications where they were published, as well as a transcription of this episode in the show notes. Find more of our shows wherever you listen to podcasts, or check out our website at micropodcast.org. And follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at podcastmicro. 

Thanks for listening.

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Scott Mitchel May is a fiction writer living in Wisconsin and his work has been featured in The Maryland Literary Review, Bending Genres, Ellipses Zine, Stone of Madness, and The Bear Creek Gazette, among others. Adam Ai is a poet and US Army veteran from Los Angeles where he lives with a ghost and teaches the clock how to love. Claire Taylor lives in Baltimore, Maryland where she writes for both adult and youth audiences. 

(Transcript)

Welcome to Micro, a podcast for short but powerful writing. I’m your host, Drew Hawkins.

Mint syrup, violent currents, and glossy suds. This episode holds a lens up to everyday life and examines the profound effect of changed perspective. 

First up is a piece whose speaker distances himself from his head and his body—the result both discordant and humorous. It’s called “Headcase.” It was written by Scott Mitchel May and published by Stone of Madness Press. Enjoy.

“Headcase” by Scott Mitchel May in Stone of Madness Press

Scott Mitchel May is a fiction writer living in Wisconsin and his work has been featured in The Maryland Literary Review, Bending Genres, Ellipses Zine, Stone of Madness, and The Bear Creek Gazette, among others. You can find him on Twitter at @smitchelmay, or on his website at scottmitchelmay.com

Our next piece is a poem as brief as it is filled with love. It’s called, “The Prayer That Moves Through All Things.” It was written by Adam Ai and published in Ancient Paths Literary Magazine. Enjoy.

“The Prayer That Moves Through All Things” by Adam Ai in Ancient Paths Literary Magazine

Adam Ai is a poet and US Army veteran from Los Angeles where he lives with a ghost and teaches the clock how to love. You can find him on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube at @adamaipoems.

Our final piece is both a practice in mindfulness and a rejection of it, as subtle tone shifts and all-too-familiar detail ask us to pay attention to the dishes. It’s called, “Resolve.” It was written by Claire Taylor and published in Serotonin. Enjoy.

“Resolve” by Claire Taylor in Serotonin

Claire Taylor lives in Baltimore, Maryland where she writes for both adult and youth audiences. You can find her on Twitter at @ClaireM_Taylor, on Instagram at @todayweread, or on her website at clairemtaylor.com. 

Micro is edited and curated by Dylan Evers, our social media is managed by M.M. Kaufman, and the show is produced and hosted by me, Drew Hawkins. Our theme song is by Matt Ordes. You can find all of the information about this episode’s writers, their featured work, and the publications where they were published, as well as a transcription of this episode in the show notes.

Find more of our shows wherever you listen to podcasts, or check out our website at micropodcast.org. And follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at podcastmicro. 

Thanks for listening.

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Nick Olson is the author of Here's Waldo and Editor-in-Chief of (mac)ro(mic). Noa Covo's work has appeared in, or is forthcoming from, Jellyfish Review, Passages North, Waxwing and elsewhere. Tyler Barton is the author of the story collection, Eternal Night at the Nature Museum, forthcoming from Sarabande Books in November, 2021. 

Links and Info:

Nick Olson

“The Things We’ll Remember”

Twitter: @nickolsonbooks

Instagram: @nickolsonbooks

Website: nickolsonbooks.com

Here's Waldo: Order Here

Maudlin House: maudlinhouse.net (Twitter: @MaudlinHouse; Instagram: @maudlin_house; Facebook: @maudlinhouse)

Noa Covo

“Ghoul”

Twitter: @covo_noa

Fractured Lit: fracturedlit.com (Twitter: @FracturedLit; Instagram: @fracturedlit; Facebook: @FracturedLit)

Tyler Barton

“Eternal Night at the Nature Museum, a Half-hour Downriver from Three Mile Island”

Twitter: @goftyler

Instagram: @tylerbartonlol

Website: tsbarton.com

Passages North: passagesnorth.com (Twitter: @PassagesNorth; Instagram: @passagesnorth; Facebook: @passages.north)

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Lauren Milici is a poet, writer, and pop culture connoisseur based in Metro Detroit. Teresa Douglas is a Mexican-American woman writing from Vancouver, B.C. torrin a. greathouse is a transgender cripple-punk, 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, and author of Wound from the Mouth of a Wound (Milkweed Editions, 2020).

(Transcript)

Welcome to Micro, a podcast for short but powerful writing. I’m your host, Drew Hawkins.

Constellations, animal bones, and angry colonies. This episode includes microfiction and poetry that casts an array of small particles across a canvas and finds meaning in the space between. Enjoy.

First up is a poem With a certain level of distance from the narrators own emotion- except for the title. It’s called “Okay, Florida.” It was written by Lauren Milici and published by Longleaf Review. Enjoy.

“Okay, Florida” by Lauren Milici in Longleaf Review

Lauren Milici is a poet, writer, and pop culture connoisseur based in Metro Detroit. You can find her on social media at @motelsiren, or on her website at laurenmilici.com.

Our second piece is—by contrast—is so filled with emotion that it makes a physical manifestation, vivid and unsettling. It’s called “Spores.” It was written by Teresa Douglas and published by Bombfire. Enjoy.

“Spores” by Teresa Douglas in Bombfire

Teresa Douglas is a Mexican-American woman writing from Vancouver, B.C. You can find her on social media at @TeresaReport, or on her website at teresamdouglas.com.

Our final piece is a prose poem at once epic and specific, modern and mythological. It’s called “Phlebotomy, as Told by the Skin.” It was written by torrin a. greathouse and was originally published in her debut poetry collection, Wound from the Mouth of a Wound, published by Milkweed Editions. Enjoy.

“Phlebotomy, as Told by the Skin” by torrin a. greathouse in Wound from the Mouth of a Wound (Milkweed Editions)

torrin a. greathouse is a transgender cripple-punk, 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, and author of Wound from the Mouth of a Wound, published by Milkweed Editions in 2020. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @tagreathouse, or on her website torringreathouse.com.

Micro is edited and curated by Dylan Evers, our social media is managed by fellow curator M.M. Kaufman, and the show is produced and hosted by me, Drew Hawkins. Our theme song is by Matt Ordes. You can find all of the information about this episode’s writers, their featured work, and the publications where they were published, as well as a transcription of this episode in the show notes.

Find more of our shows wherever you listen to podcasts, on LitHub’s website, or check out our website at micropodcast.org. And follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at podcastmicro. 

Thanks for listening.

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Jessica June Rowe is an author, playwright, and the fiction editor of Exposition Review. Sylvia Petter, an Australian in Austria, writes short, long, serious, sexy and fun. Lindsey Danis is a Hudson Valley-based writer whose work has appeared in Longreads, New World Writing, and The Sunlight Press, among other places.

(Transcript)

Welcome to Micro, a podcast for short but powerful writing. I’m your host, Drew Hawkins.

A thousand fractals, bay leaves, and the strangeness of double yolks. This episode centers around transformation and rebirth, with a blend of speculative fiction and creative nonfiction. Enjoy!

Our first piece is a delightfully fulfilling transformation—not for the speaker, but for her grandmother. It’s called “Underage.” It was written by Jessica June Rowe and published in Atlas and Alice on April 8, 2021. Enjoy.

“Underage” by Jessica June Rowe in Atlas and Alice

Jessica June Rowe is an author, playwright, and the fiction editor of Exposition Review; her own writing has been featured on multiple pages and stages, as well as stamped in concrete on one sidewalk in Valencia, CA, where she currently lives. You can find her on Twitter at @willwrite4chai or on her website at willwriteforchai.com.

Our second piece merges the mythical with the mundane, and a unique supermarket find. It’s called “The Wishbone.” It was written by Sylvia Petter and published by Reflex Fiction on April 19, 2017. Enjoy.

“The Wishbone” by Sylvia Petter in Reflex Fiction

Sylvia Petter, an Australian in Austria, writes short, long, serious, sexy and fun. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @sylviaapetter, or on her website at sylviapetter.com.

Our final piece is about eggs. But it’s also not about eggs. Eggs are the lens through which we see the speaker’s trajectory, and the medium through which we see her change. It’s titled “The Way a Person Does One Thing is the Way They Do Everything: Eggs.” It was written by Lindsey Danis and published in (mac)ro(mic) on March 22, 2021. Enjoy.

“Eggs” by Lindsey Danis in (mac)ro(mic)

Lindsey Danis is a Hudson Valley-based writer whose work has appeared in Longreads, New World Writing, and The Sunlight Press, among other places. You can find her on Twitter @lindseydanis, on Instagram @lindsey.danis.writer, or on her website at lindseydanis.com.

Micro is edited and curated by Dylan Evers, our social media is managed by fellow curator M.M. Kaufman, and the show is produced and hosted by me, Drew Hawkins. Our theme song is by Matt Ordes. You can find all of the information about this episode’s writers, their featured work, and the publications where they were published, as well as a transcription of this episode in the show notes.

Find more of our shows wherever you listen to podcasts, check out our website at micropodcast.org, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at podcastmicro. 

Thanks for listening.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices