Featured Writing

Night sky over field

A Late Night Visit

by Jess Earl Mama told me that thunder is just the sound of angels bowling. The angel outside my window doesn’t have hands but maybe it just can’t bowl, like how Katie can’t eat peanut butter. The angel doesn’t look like the ones in Mama’s paintings; it looks like a…

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Nonfiction Posts

Black and white magpie with a broken beak

BrokeBeak the Magpie and His Family

by Elia Anie Kim BrokeBeak the magpie was easy to recognise at my bird bath because of his appearance. His plumage was striking black-and-white, with the upper beak broken off at the tip. Despite the fact that he had a compromised beak with which to forage with, he appeared to…

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A vintage camera resting against a leather case

Call Me Nostalgic

by Ian C Smith Photographers can be both artists and conservationists.  When we see images of old or departed folk bathed in light in family albums – how young you look – so slim – that hair – pangs of sadness are gladdened, too, as we hustle to remain ahead…

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A persons shadow standing in front of a window

Living in the Shadows: Life After MST

by John Gregory Evans This story contains suicide and sexual assault. For some life hangs in the balance. Living in the shadows is never easy. Life after Military Sexual Trauma is not easy, either. But some of us reach that ideated pinnacle where suicide and attempts become an everyday experience….

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Two hippies signaling a car on a dirt road

Ninety-ninth Percentile

by Michael McGrath When I received my first report card in the fall of 1967, I was afraid to bring it home. Unlike most of my friends, who had a collection of As, Bs, Cs—and the occasional D—to show for their efforts, the only grade featured prominently on my card…

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A roll of film unraveling

My Mother, My Hero

By Omolayo C. Akinlosotu Koya For International Women’s Day, Southern New Hampshire University students were invited to submit essays in celebration of women’s contributions to society, with a focus on a particular woman who inspired the writer. This essay was selected for publication in The Penmen Review. Thousands of film…

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A woman in a plaid shirt leaning on a couch while writing in a red journal

The Courage to Rekindle a Dream

By Jennifer Ward As a little girl, I was a dreamer. I wanted to be so many things—a teacher, a lawyer, an author, a fashion designer, an architect. Amid these dreams, I always imagined I would be happy doing something I loved. Still, during my first year of college, it…

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Two cars driving down a long road during a snow storm.

Breaking Down

By Loren Mayshark A blustery, white January day on Dutch Hollow Road in western New York. I was a benchwarmer freshman on the junior varsity basketball team in a school with about two hundred students. This meant the team was composed of both freshman and sophomore players, and I’d had…

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A home health care worker with a clipboard.

Flying Nuns

By Pamela Kaye (This piece first appeared in the online publication MixedMag.) My wife and I finally settled into a financially and physically secure retirement. Two years ago, we bought our forever home, unpacked boxes that had been in storage, and eased into the next chapter of life; for me,…

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A red-faced warbler on a branch, staring ahead

1001 Toad and Bird Calls

By Roberta Schine When I was a junior at Central High School, Mike Ventura invited me to Cornell University’s homecoming weekend. We had gone out a few times when he was still in Bridgeport. Once, he took me to Beardsley Park Zoo. Another time we sat in the Merritt Canteen…

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