Public health and fiction share a desire to elicit reactions… both examine experiences in order to better understand human motivations and actions, as well as the systems that dictate our decision-making.
In September, Black Lawrence Press will release Jill Stukenberg’s powerful, timely, and haunting debut novel, News of the Air, which won the 2021 Big Moose Prize.
They wouldn’t let me near you,
their ring around your bedside tight
hungry wolves on a dark navy night
We live not just in a culture but a world of success. All my stories deal with the “mediocre” people, who are left out. Ultimately, that may be just about all of us.
by Paulette Kamenecka
I came to think of myself as a traveler who’d picked up a pack of diseases through miscalculation or poor judgment—drinking the water in a place I shouldn’t have.
Bobbi’s petticoat on a hanger
on her doorknob
bodice smooth as silk. Nobody’s looking
I strip off my shirt and pants slip it on
By Sari Botton
“The blonde stripes also felt like a cosmetic lie I was no longer willing to live with; in the weeks after each application, I had the feeling I was wearing a hat, or a wig, that slid slowly off my head.”
At Bloom, we believe it is never too late to take a risk and try something new. In that spirit, we are excited to announce that we are now accepting poetry and fiction submissions from blooming authors who first publish or publish in a new genre (for example, a novelist who publishes a poem, an academic …
In solidarity with antiracism protests around the country and internationally, Bloom strives to be antiracist in what we publish, whom we interview, and the books we choose to excerpt. Bloom understands that many who fit that profile come from marginalized communities of all varieties, and that paths to publication are too often challenged by systemic racism. Our goal is to amplify the underheard and to celebrate the undersung—the authors who are not reviewed in mainstream publishing. Our all-volunteer editorial team is fiercely dedicated to realizing a just society through the dissemination of diverse voices that speak to equality for all.
I felt compelled to start the conversation about what had happened, addressing the crippling legacy of shame and guilt from leaving our babies decades ago. Continue reading
O children I forgot to have you
Didn’t want to be a bad parent
Like they who always said they’d
by Lisa Peet
“There’s an essay in my book from one of the most unglamorous places in the world, Waterbury, Connecticut, but I love it. I think you can find wonder and mystery everywhere. I think you can experience newness anywhere.” Continue reading
I sat with the note in my lap, stunned and glad to be alone in the kitchen. The laundry gave me something to do with my hands while I settled my mind. Continue reading
In August, She Writes Press will release Adele Holmes’s debut novel, Winter’s Reckoning, which won an Honorable Mention in the 2021 William Faulkner Literary Competition. Continue reading
“And I’ll greet them, marveling at their reawakening…” Continue reading
So what if sobriety made him coherent. His mind was a refuse bin for advertising concepts. Blasphemy, plain and simple. Although she wanted to talk about it, she wouldn’t for fear a confrontation would send him back to the gin with a virulence. Continue reading
Bloom 