#squawk back

It is now public information: our writer’s short anti-story “The Toothbrush Vanguard” has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Yearly, magazines in the small press sphere submit six pieces each--essays, poems, stories, et cetera--for Pushcart consideration. Squawk Back, which published “The Toothbrush Vanguard” in January 2016, has included our writer’s story among its six nominations.

Although the Pushcart Prize receives thousands of nominees annually, consideration for the award remains a tremendous, and relatively rare, honor. We at Still Eating Oranges cannot thank Squawk Back enough--first for taking a chance in publishing the story, second for this nomination. In our writer’s estimation, it is overwhelmingly unlikely that “The Toothbrush Vanguard” will win. The nomination alone, though, is electrifying.

Yesterday, our writer’s flash fiction piece “The Toothbrush Vanguard” appeared in issue 151 of Squawk Back, an online journal of experimental literature. The full story may be found here. A preview:

Stood staring into bathroom sink with hands on sinksides he knew some thing could not be taken back, some smallthing and his brother had threw a glass, and his brother was very sad. Said to his brother You could use my guest room till things are sorted out. Very bad. Everyone had told him Don't mention the ugly business. Everyone had told him What if it breaks the camel? He had broke the camel.

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              I am not anti-traditional literary magazines, but I do think that a new kind of literary magazine is emerging. In my experience, when I mention even the most-well known literary magazines to non-writers, the response is alway the same: "I've never heard of it." 

That's not to say that these magazines or journals don't have a lot of subscribers (many of them do), but I don't know how broad the audience really is for many of them. To top it off, these magazines, since they are often lovingly volunteer-run, have long wait times. I understand why, but waiting six to eight months for a SASE-rejection can sting. 

For me--as an emerging writer--it is important to have my work available for those interested in finding out what I'm all about. And so, I've been looking at  e-magazines and e-journals. In some cases, you even receive an email back THE SAME DAY saying that they are "looking forward to reading your work," and that "you'll hear back by the end of the month." This kind of response is encouraging.

In My Own Words

My name is Tyler, and that is the truth. It was once Martin, truthfully, but that doesn’t matter because none of it is real. But maybe that’s the only real thing anyone can say. And I mean anyone. Yes, that means you reader. Anyway, maybe my name is Tyler, and what I want to talk to you about is the fact that I’m being held against my will and setup. I never killed her, and please don’t start in on the “her?” questions. Slow it down. Take it one step at a time. Call it delay if you must.  Call it that if it’ll make you feel better. I was born in mid life. But my back story came, so, I don’t know, maybe I was born before my conception. I started out walking down the hall. At the time, I was existence and nothing else. Existence in perpetual motion down a hall. Believe me, this space between spaces, this traditional, transitional place, limits our progress far more than it aides it. Anyway, with two quick lines, I was sketched into view. A few brief markers, like my nervous twitch, seemed to represent the whole me. It was when I was given a body that I started to realize that I was being manipulated. No sooner was I put on the page than accused of murder. It read, “He had killed her.” But I didn’t. Couldn’t have. Especially not in the past perfect!......