Baseball by Quynn Kent with art by Olivia Stephens (Writers Artists Night 2022) “Hey Quynn. It’s me. I’m calling to say thank you. Thank you for loving me, For teaching me how to laugh, For sitting in silence with me, And for being everything I needed you to be. Thank you. And I’m sorry.” “Hey…
The Story of Leo by Vashon Borich-Leach with art by Mary Arneson His chocolate brown, almond-shaped eyes gazed into hers. Around his face fell wisps of golden strawberry-blonde hair. He batted his long eyelashes at my mother. I knew from the look on her face, we were taking him home. I was a teenager and…
A Gift by Michael Lloyd Gregory with art by Chris Boyd Loyd’s grandmother lay dying. Dying atop the feather mattress in the iron frame that had been moved to the front room so she could take to her bed. Loyd understood that when a person took to their bed it meant they were done living.…
On the Mississippi by Edwin Woolsey with art by Freeman Payne Out of money, Roosevelt’s luck gradually changed. He agreed to build a self-propelled riverboat for Livingston and Fulton. Their ship would navigate the continent’s interior waterways. Constructing the vessel’s hull in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the internal machinery came by wagon from foundries in New York.…
From the journal of Jedidiah Bryson, June 7, 1885 by Joel Telschow with art by Freeman Payne Writers Artists Night 2022 On May 8th I was headed back from my brother’s place after helping him with a cow that was birthing. He doesn’t live but three miles away on the next bald. Hell, I can…
Hometown Heroes, Mid-States Wrestling by Joshua Heston & Noah Bray (Harrison, Arkansas) — Inside a steel farm building on the mountainous Boone County fairgrounds, the crowd gathers. Classic rock blares from speakers. The smell of BBQ pulled pork nachos wafts through the air. Blinding fluorescent light shines down on the ring. “Tease me, please me,…
Macanaw by Freeman Payne (with artwork by Mike Faith) Writers Artists Night 2021 Alex was born on July 15, 1975. His harrowing tale of ritualized sexual abuse he received as a child sex slave went unreported. His family used him sexually, sold him for orgies, and photographed him with his sister. People took him at…