By Steven Suntres Poetry and techno are like two of my mind’s closest friends that continually flirt with each other to the point that I’m confused as to why they don’t just quit playing around and start dating. For a while, I thought this was something that only made sense to me, and that I should just keep my opinions to myself; however, when I came across an article in The Atlantic, titled "The Death of the Artist” by William Deresiewicz, I began to think that this is a match that is more plausible than I first thought it would be in a real world setting.

The Fiddlehead summer fiction issue is now available, and it’s the perfect read whether you’re lounging at the beach or sitting in a hammock. Spend those long, lazy, hazy days of summer, luxuriating in the fictional worlds of the fifteen stories gathered here. We have stories from established national and international writers such as Daniel Woodrell, D.R. MacDonald, and Kathy Page and stories from up-and-comers such as Charlie Fiset, Rod Moody-Corbett, and Mona’a Malik. And that's just some of the authors found within! . . .

By Rebecca Salazar

Sean Howard has won our 24th annual Ralph Gustafson Prize for Best Poem for "Cases (Unbound Poems, from Nova Scotia Reports)." Sean Howard is the author of Local Calls (Cape Breton University Press, 2009) and Incitements (Gaspereau Press, 2011). His poetry has been published in numerous Canadian and international magazines, nominated for a Pushcart Prize in the US, and anthologized in The Best Canadian Poetry in English (Tightrope Books, 2011 & 2014). Sean lives in the lobster-fishing village of Main-à-Dieu, Nova Scotia, and is adjunct professor of political science at Cape Breton University.

By Reid Lodge

Lisa Alward has won The Fiddlehead's 24th annual Short Fiction Prize for her story "Cocktail." Originally from Halifax, Lisa Alward has a master’s degree in English from the University of London and was the Literary Press Group’s first sales manager. She presently lives in Fredericton, where she teaches courses in clear writing and has worked as an editor and freelance writer. She has been writing short fiction for three years. “Cocktail,” her second story to be published, is inspired by the cocktail party world of the sixties and early seventies.