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Fiction

Exploring Hellscapes and Grotesque Pathos 

Posted on August 1, 2018

By Zachary Alapi 

A Review of J.R. Helton’s Bad Jobs and Poor Decisions

J.R. Helton’s Bad Jobs and Poor Decisions (Liverlight 2018) accomplishes a unique feat: the weaving of social universality and cultural specificity. For Helton, that means a raw exploration of class, the most pressing and relevant issue we face, couched in the sounds and sights of 1980s Austin — the music, the drugs, the hustlers, and the grandiosity and pomp that only a state like Texas, in all its carnivalesque glory, can render both thrilling and morbid. As readers follow Jake Stewart, a burgeoning artist bent as much on self-destruction as producing great writing or visual art, as he navigates the bloated landscape of Ronald Reagan’s America. An undertone of paranoia and stasis infuses this wry and dark book with urgency and energy that even readers disconnected from the setting and era can feel. 

Kate Osana Simonian

Posted on May 14, 2018

Excerpt from "The Press"

The materials had finally arrived. On the porch lay twelve body-length planks, a cardboard box, and three Styrofoam tubs shaped like lozenges. Cliff nicked the planks free of their straps and ran one shaking hand along the grain. Nestled in a wad of bubble wrap was a jar of screws in a shade so silver they were almost blue. Cliff considered calling in sick, but he had double history in the afternoon, and his class was already behind. 

New Brunswick Book Awards

Posted on June 6, 2017
New Brunswick Book Awards Winners

The New Brunswick Book Awards ceremony was held at Memorial Hall at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton on May 24th. It was a wonderful ceremony with music provided by Jane Simpson and Gerard Collins. Colleen Kitts-Goguen emceed the event and David Adams Richards provided an inspiring and moving keynote speech.

excerpt from "Blues Too Bright" by Kate Finegan

Posted on May 10, 2017

Kate Finegan's story "Blues Too Bright" won the fiction prize as part of The Fiddlehead's 26th annual literary contest. You can read an interview with her here.

 

Blues Too Bright

"Have you noticed the birds are shitting more lately?” Mother calls to ask. I wait for my eyes to focus and see that it’s six a.m. on the dot. I imagine she’s been sitting by the window since four, waiting for a reasonable hour to call. 

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