Welcome

Vestal Review’s August 1 – November 30, 2021 reading period is now open!

Issue 58

Gathering from the response to issue 57, we’ve got a lot of dedicated followers, so here’s issue 58, just in time for summer reading.

Our fiction runs several gamuts: a twisted prom night and a one-night stand, troubled offspring-parent relationships, a strange stone, an arrest of a suspect in the park, the eerie items that the ocean yields, a music camp from hell, fiendishly smart fish, a multi-cephalic encounter, deaths by fire and water, a fortuneteller, a maddeningly equable husband, birds out of hand, and of course unrequited love.

This issue also features two author interviews, one with the Iraqi writer Diaa Jubaili and the other with the maritime engineer Mark Jednaszewski.

As with the previous issue, our writers are all over the map, in as many senses as you can imagine.

We’d like to thank our authors, without whom we’d have no material, our staff, without whom we’d have no magazine, and all those who submitted, putting their talent on display.

So check out the issue, selectively if you must, and tell others if you like what you read.

David Galef
Editor in Chief
Vestal Review

Not Fade Away, by Brett Biebel

Tupilak, by Verity Borthwick

The Thirteenth Head, by Brinda Charry

Buddy System, by Gary Fincke

After the Fire, by Juan Gomez

Just the Same, by Nicole Hebdon

Cataclysm, by Richard Holinger

The Night Girl, by Diaa Jubaili, trans. Chip Rossetti

Appetites of Birds, by Christina Kapp

One-Night Stand, by Masha Kisel

Corinne, by Linda McMullen

Byron’s Rebellion, by Jerome Newsome

Gladiator’s Moon, by T. L. Ransome

A Fish Story, by Mary Rohrer-Dann

Morning to Night, by Neysa Tapanes

You say that like I’m going to die, by Lucy Zhang

For reviews and interviews, please go here.

Issue 57

Cover art by Jia Sung.

Welcome to issue 57 of Vestal Review, the oldest flash fiction magazine on the planet.

This issue marks the start of a new staff lineup and a dozen flash fiction talents. Hallmarks: a distinctive voice and a feel for language, vivid characters and events in a minuscule space, and a diversity in both authors and subjects. We have stories ranging from a history of infanticide to slippery memories and babysitting mishaps. This issue also features two flash interviews and two flash reviews. Our writers come from all over the globe, including India and the Maldive Islands.

Thanks to all our writers and everyone on our masthead, without whom we’d have no magazine. We’re also grateful to everyone who sent in material and who deserve both courtesy and respect.

Finally: If you enjoy the stories in this issue, no need to contain yourself. Please spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and elsewhere, should you feel compelled.

David Galef
Editor in Chief
Vestal Review

First Love, by Kirstin Allio

The Artifice of Memory, by Soramimi Hanarejim

Speak Loose, by Nashiu Zahir

Driving, by Elizabeth O’Brien

Crônica No. 1: Especially Since and Mainly Because, by Rone Shavers

The Infanticide of Puah, by Liz Marlow

Who Needs Rehab When You Have a Man?, by Preeti Vangani

Sitter, by Gary Moshimer

Death of a Short Story Writer, by Donald A. Ranard

Wolf, by Gemma Doswell

My Name Was Said, by RW Spryszak

Same Killer, by Bari Lynn Hein

For reviews and interviews, please go here.