Written and Read

"Alarm," previously unpublished.

"They both feel lucky to have someone who cares enough about them to make sure that they are drinking enough water."

"Walking to the Number 61," previously unpublished.

"Ian always frames his emails to colleagues in the passive voice. It’s a habit he picked up from his father, a librarian, who believed that if you did your job well, people wouldn’t notice, and if you did your job very well, people wouldn’t even know that your job exists."

One original poem: "Mastery"

Singer-songwriter DAIN describes his songwriting process and how he wrote "Tinman."

DAIN is a Seattle based singer-songwriter / indie pop artist with an emphasis on storytelling in his lyrics. His music can be found here:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5PdbAN4rPvek632pFfpVKJ?si=XpTJm_m2Tk6Kp0FlaBLzBA

Bandcamp: https://dainweisner.bandcamp.com/album/sun-feels-good

"A Tribe of Genies," previously unpublished.

“Packets of cigarettes and boxes of sweets were passed round, and the bedouin women sang and danced, the night and the desert resounding with the echoes of a great feast, as though we were some tribe of genies.”

- Tayeb Salih 

"Locked Inside," previously unpublished.

"He couldn’t live with not knowing. It was far more painful to him than the violation of his home by these two yahoos, the loneliness he felt daily, the heavy shame that he carried around his house from the latch to the thermostat to the kitchen window."

"The Promise," previously unpublished.

"He wonders whether change can be intentionally sought, or rather, like a sudden crisis of faith, it can only be experienced, it can only come as a reaction. If this is the case, which he comes to suspect and indeed worry that it is, he is forced to wonder what has to happen to him in order for him to change."

Discussion with Dale Hall and Charlie Hope-D'Anieri about the best books we read in 2024.

"The Sirens of Santa Cruz," previously unpublished.

"The eucalyptus trees were dark crimson. The smell was intoxicating. I wish I could have shot them but the flash would have ruined the color and without it, the picture would be far too dark."

Alexandra Duprey reads two original poems.