As I’ve been out of town, and busy with new adventures, I’m letting my five guest editors carry this edition of The Showcase. You won’t be disappointed. Among the fine selections are three short stories and two works of flash fiction. First up is a piece by the insanely talented Myfanwy Collins, which appears in the debut issue of Quay Journal. Next we have two flashes, from two masters, published by two killer zines. And then there is Dave Clapper’s selection—a short story by Daphne Buter published in the most recent issue of FRiGG. I must admit that I’m jealous he found this story before I did!! It’s dark and bold and very striking. Last but not least, Alicia Gifford gives us “The Man” by Pia Z. Ehrhardt. If you’re familiar with Pia’s writing, you know you’re in for a good read. So sit back with a bag of popcorn, or a glass of wine, or both if you have freakish taste buds, and enjoy. I will return on May 18th with five selections all chosen by me. Because I’m stingy like that.

Selected by Katrina Denza:


Katrina Denza’s stories can be found in past or upcoming issues of New Delta Review; Parting Gifts; SmokeLong Quarterly; Emrys Journal; RE:AL; Cranky; The Jabberwock Review; The MacGuffin; Storyglossia; elimae, and The Emerson Review, among others.

Contact Katrina.

“Cowless, Rainbowless” by Myfanwy Collins
published by Quay Journal

In “Cowless, Rainbowless,” the narrator has become accustomed to shame, and more importantly, feels responsible for those things which cause this feeling, most of them out of her control. She is so sure she will continue to be plagued by shame that in the end she resigns herself to the possibility that she will do something from which she’ll never recover her dignity. But it’s this very honesty she gracefully and generously offers the reader that underlines just how dignified she is.

Collins is a lyrical writer, her details are poetry, but it’s the rawness of her work that always strikes me. It’s that raw honesty that grabs me right away and leads me to believe I’m about to hear a story that will change me.

Jackie and I are confirmed in late fall. Her father gives me a locket. I cherish it. I stop my diet and eat and eat and gain weight. I am suddenly fat when I never was before. I want to eat everything. I want to eat the world.

But I have been confirmed and so this year I have confessed my sins. What I have said to the priest is this: I have taken the Lord’s name in vain, I have had bad thoughts, I have spoken back to my mother, I have had bad thoughts I have had bad thoughts I have had bad thoughts.

I have lied.

I let this last one hang between us because we both must know I am lying now as I do not tell him the full extent of my evilness—all I have done. The parts of boys’ bodies I have touched and seen and what they have touched and seen of mine. I have not told him what I sometimes do to myself. It is wrong and bad and he is old.

Selected by Kathy Fish:


Kathy Fish is the author of “Laughter, Applause, Laughter, Music, Applause,” a collection of short-shorts forthcoming from Rose Metal Press in January 2008. She is a Pushcart Prize nominated writer whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications, including RE:AL, Spork, Whistling Shade, Denver Quarterly, Quick Fiction, Night Train, NOÖ Journal, FRiGG, SmokeLong Quarterly, Per Contra and juked. Read her interview for the Writer Profile Project.

“Kin” by Kim Chinquee
published by 3:AM Magazine

I am a huge fan of Kim Chinquee’s stunningly simple and unadorned prose style. I particularly admire her ability to shift, ever so subtly, the endings of her short-shorts, elevating the image and the emotion in a moving and powerful way. Her very short works remind me of the best haiku. I think of Kim Chinquee as a quiet genius. Her work is inimitable.

Her short-short, “Kin,” creates a complex world in one family gathering. It is one of my favorites of hers. I particularly love the final image.

“The moon was full, and the famous boyfriend pointed. “It’s grand,” he said, and his girlfriend lifted her glass to him, then turned around, toasting. They walked around the yard, calling for the cat. “Kin,” they all said, running into branches.”

Selected by Joseph Young:

Joseph Young lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where he works as a freelance editor. His fiction and poetry have appeared in such magazines as SmokeLong Quarterly, elimae, Mississippi Review, Eleven Bulls, Exquisite Corpse, Blue Moon Review, and elsewhere. Visit his website and his art blog.

“Rain or Shine” by Mary Miller
published by SmokeLong Quarterly

I love everything Mary writes. I sit in delight as I read her, smiling, sometimes laughing out loud, cringing at the outrageous or painful things her characters can say, feeling sad, sometimes hopeful, and often very jealous of her talent. “Rain or Shine” is a particularly brilliant story for all those reasons. Just look at this line: “She sighs and hoists herself up, leaves me sitting there alone with the walls too far apart.” I love that, “with the walls too far apart.” I can’t say I really know what she means—it’s kind of a crazy non sequitur—but I feel what she means most definitely. That’s what her stories do, set you off kilter, throw you off balance, and come at you as you’re teetering.

Her husband doesn’t say much but he always looks like he’s chewing on something large and tough inside his head. One time she told me that he wanted to swing, that he was trying to talk her into swinging, and it’s all I can think about when I’m around him: how he wants to have sex with other women, how I’m probably at the top of his list of potentials.

Selected by Dave Clapper:

Dave Clapper is a father, a writer, and the editor of SmokeLong Quarterly. His work has appeared in over thirty journals, including FRiGG, Literary Potpourri, Thunder Sandwich, and 3:AM Magazine. He holds a degree in theater from Northwestern University’s School of Communication, and two of his plays were produced in Seattle. Visit his website, and read his interview for the Writer Profile Project. Contact Dave.

“Take Good Care of the Girls. Adios!” by Daphne Buter
published by FRiGG

When I hear writers talking about finding their voice, the first writer who comes to mind as someone who has an absolutely distinct voice is Daphne Buter. It’s pretty easy to attribute her uniqueness to English being her second language (after Dutch), but that’s only a part of it. She’s willing to take on difficult subjects with complete honesty, which is uncomfortable for a lot of editors and readers. “Take Good Care of the Girls. Adios!” is a great example of this. Her use of language and the topic at hand are both unflinching, and these combine to make what might otherwise be a too familiar story into something completely original.

I looked in his eyes and noticed what he meant. His eyeballs were covered with fragile red ropes, and from between the red ropes his blue irises gazed at me. The blue of his eyes wasn’t framed by a black outline. My mother was right. That man was something artificial. A robot maybe, or a transformed dolphin.

Selected by Alicia Gifford:

Alicia Gifford is a short story writer and a fiction editor with Night Train. Her work is forthcoming or has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Narrative Magazine, Confrontation, The Barcelona Review, Storyglossia, Per Contra, and other journals and anthologies. Read Alicia’s interview for the Writer Profile Project.

“A Man” by Pia Z. Ehrhardt
published by Spork

I read a lot of short fiction and much of it I quickly forget, but “A Man” by Pia Z. Ehrhardt is one of those that has made a home in my head. The story unfolds non-linearly, and the understated prose underscores the horror of what we read. If it had been told in a histrionic way, the story would be robbed of its power. The ending devastates.

The kitchen faced north, there were unpacked grocery bags on the table from Albertson’s, a short-haired mutt ran in and out of the small door and barked while he raped her on the kitchen floor. His truck was white with thin red stripes down the sides. He didn’t blindfold her, just kept a small, black gun pressed into her side.

Thank you, Katrina, Kathy, Joe, Dave, and Alicia!


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