The Offing

White text in a blue background that reads: NONFICTION Geetha Iyer (@geetha-iyer.bsky.social), "Exquisite Corpus" Kyla-Yến Huỳnh Giffin, "Ngoại and the Coral Reef"

White text on a blue background that reads: POETRY Kristin Gustafson, "Horse Poetica" Lauren Saxon, "if I could give you the moon" Mack Rogers (@rogerthatmack.bsky.social), "My mother's scrapbook found while I was looking for inspiration" Maya Salameh, "EXCERPTS FROM SEPTEMBER'S PSYCHOSOMATIC EFFECTS ON ARAB AM. GIRLS" Tim Seibles, "So, After A While," Shasparay, "Judgment Day"

Best of the Net 2025 Nonfiction and Poetry nominations (@geetha-iyer.bsky.social, @rogerthatmack.bsky.social)

White text on a blue background that reads: ART Art by Anoushka Mirchandani & text by Divya Gangwani, "You Carry Everyone Who Came Before You: An Interview with Anoushka Mirchandani" Brooke Emily, "Home" Kyong Boon Oh, "Kyong Boon Oh and Walking the Path"

White text on a blue background that reads: FICTION Fia Zhang Swanson, "Foreigner" Kristen Sahaana Surya, "Grown Up Girls"

Best of the Net 2025 Art and fiction nominations

White text on a blue night sky bright with stars that reads, The Offing Best of the Net 2025 Nominations

Congratulations to all of our nominees this year for Best of the Net!

Check them out below:

Sundown Spa® Vampires Encourage You To Book A Rejuvenating Blood-Letting - The Offing Wit Tea - The Offing Magazine

“Join us in celebrating fifty years of vampires helping humans by sucking their blood. Claim your spot now!”

From “Sundown Spa® Vampires Encourage You To Book A Rejuvenating Blood-Letting,” new Wit Tea by Tobi Pledger.

theoffingmag.com/wit-tea/sund...

false revelation - The Offing Micro - The Offing Magazine

“⟿ no poems ⟿ no reading ⟿ no beautiful bodies.”

From “false revelation,” a new Micro by T.R. San.

theoffingmag.com/micro/false-...

Q&A with Hayden Casey, author of Show Me Where the Hurt Is - The Offing Q&A - The Offing Magazine

“I’m very good at hiding a lot of my own inner turmoil. Part of that is me letting some of that out of myself and into some other shape.”

From a new Q&A with author of Show Me Where the Hurt Is Hayden Casey and Ashaki M. Jackson.

theoffingmag.com/interviews/q...

Floating Down, Unafraid - The Offing Insight - The Offing Magazine

“There is a backstory here, of course, to how they became Husband and Wife.”

From “Floating Down, Unafraid,” a new Insight essay by Carolina Pfister.

theoffingmag.com/insight/floa...

“Before I could even call his name, a dance came to me, from somewhere beyond the hall, somewhere long before I was born, when all this was ordinary: earth, water, love.”

From “Only Hands,” a new Poem by Michelle Phương Hồ.

theoffingmag.com/poetry/only-...

Bihoods - The Offing Back of the Envelope - The Offing Magazine

"We stand precisely in the doorway—neither both nor none. Guest nor host. Speak in neutral tenses, dress in night palettes. Half our verbs are borrowed, but everything makes sense."

From “Bihoods,” a new Back of the Envelope piece by Warren C. Longmire.

theoffingmag.com/backoftheenv...

Torn paper revealing a message: Call for submissions; The Offing’s Micro department is seeking new works !

Sidelined, or No Pain, No Gain - The Offing Essay - The Offing Magazine

I got to edit another essay by @mcrane12.bsky.social and now you all get to read it in @theoffingmag.bsky.social. If you've followed the impact of ACLs on WoSo in recent years, it's a must read.

“I don’t know where to begin. That, and there is no end, because as old as this pain is, it feels forever fresh.”

From “Sidelined, or No Pain, No Gain,” a new Essay by Mac Crane.

theoffingmag.com/essay/sideli...

The Leaf Blower Apocalypse - The Offing Wit Tea - The Offing Magazine

“The men are quite pleased, light again on their feet after so many years of plodding steps. To and fro they spin, they waltz, they dance.”

From “The Leaf Blower Apocalypse,” a new Wit Tea piece by N.J. Webster.

theoffingmag.com/wit-tea/the-...

grime - The Offing Micro - The Offing Magazine

“the first time I saw my legs could carry me faster when I dressed less modestly, I learned more about my dad’s god than He ever told me.”

From “grime” a new Micro by Deborah Brown.

theoffingmag.com/micro/grime/

From the Archives: 물귀신 | Mul Gwishin - The Offing Fiction - The Offing Magazine

“In abandoned barns behind campus, watch her tongue curl around the words of your second language. Match your tongue to hers.”

From “물귀신 | Mul Gwishin” and "Hip Deep in the Chesapeake," Fiction by Kat Lewis, originally published on February 1st, 2021.

theoffingmag.com/fiction/arch...

Aubade - The Offing Poetry - The Offing Magazine

“In the hills the fire-frightened wildlife are drawn to the scent of what has burned, as I still smell you weeks after leaving my home.”

From “Aubade,” a new Poem by Benjamin Bartu.

theoffingmag.com/poetry/aubade/

Black Dad - The Offing Insight - The Offing Magazine

Today in @theoffingmag.bsky.social: an excerpt from Steve Majors @600mildollarman.bsky.social's forthcoming memoir, Man Made: Searching for Dads, Daddies, Father Figures, and Fatherhood: theoffingmag.com/insight/blac...

Black Dad - The Offing Insight - The Offing Magazine

“With time, I see the only doubts about my Blackness lie within me, not my kids. To my Black daughters, I am no different than other fathers.”

From “Black Dad” a new Insight essay by Steve Majors.

theoffingmag.com/insight/blac...

Internet Ephemera and a Mid-century London Artist - The Offing Art - The Offing Magazine

"I like knowing that Terence Greer felt his legacy appreciated during his lifetime."

From "Internet Ephemera and a Mid-century London Artist" new Art by Tracy J. Prince.

theoffingmag.com/art/internet...

The Spell of Exile - The Offing Essay - The Offing Magazine

“On the morning I turned forty, I woke early, compelled to write—not to preserve the past, but to reshape it.”

From “The Spell of Exile” new Essay by Chris Campanioni (@chriscampanioni.bsky.social).

theoffingmag.com/essay/the-sp...

Incident Reports - The Offing Wit Tea - The Offing Magazine

“Incident: Heard shouting at midnight (quiet hours violation). Went to kitchen and found Andrew, Hunter, and Thomas (RA, floor 3) drunk. Thomas and Hunter not wearing shirts. Andrew not wearing pants.”

From “Incident Reports” new Wit Tea by Shannon Mahoney.

theoffingmag.com/wit-tea/inci...

Refuge - The Offing Micro - The Offing Magazine

“they could take him any day now
they are taking one a day now”

From “Refuge,” new Poem by Edythe Rodriguez.

theoffingmag.com/micro/refuge/

From the Archives: Q&A with C Pam Zhang, author of “Are They Vampires, or Are They Just Chinese?” - The Offing Q&A - The Offing Magazine

“C Pam Zhang: Books started out as escapism for me, and I want my writing to maintain some of that.”

From a Q&A with C Pam Zhang, author of “Are They Vampires, or Are They Just Chinese?" Originally published May 1st, 2017.

theoffingmag.com/interviews/a...

bliss, eternity - The Offing Insight - The Offing Magazine

“I return to the perfect green field, the perfect blue sky, where it feels impossible that anything has ever ended, or ever could end.”

From “bliss, eternity,” a new Insight essay by Nikki Barnhart.

theoffingmag.com/insight/blis...

On My Way to See You - The Offing Poetry - The Offing Magazine

“I am turmeric dust weeklong stains gleaming across nailbeds I am animal yellow tang ghost crab this banana slug this firefly bulb times a billion”

From “On My Way to See You,” a new Poem by Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad.

theoffingmag.com/poetry/on-my...

From the Archives: Track 3: I Miss You - The Offing Comics - The Offing Magazine

“There's an old friend who I don't talk to anymore, and the universe keeps sending me signs of her.”

From “Track 3: I Miss You” a Comic by Kaitlin Chan, originally published on October 1st, 2021.

theoffingmag.com/art/comics/f...

Glengarry Glen Ross for the Gig Economy - The Offing Wit Tea - The Offing Magazine

“A, Always. B, Be. C, Closing. Always Be Closing. You wanna work here? Close! Otherwise, you’re fired.”

From “Glengarry Glen Ross for the Gig Economy,” new Wit Tea by Sue D. Gelber @suegelber.bsky.social.

theoffingmag.com/wit-tea/glen...

I am always excited to read a new @rossshowalter.com story and having this pop up in my feed first thing this morning was exactly what I needed.

Ant Farm - The Offing Back of the Envelope - The Offing Magazine

“What I’m saying is: there’s a real reluctance to call what these ants are doing agriculture. To say: that’s farming, they’re farming!”

From “Ant Farm,” new Back of the Envelope by Ahana Ganguly.

theoffingmag.com/backoftheenv...

Mon Tabac - The Offing Micro - The Offing Magazine

“Always the same thwap-thwap of his sweeps, always a cigarette molded perfectly to his pink mouth.”

From “Mon Tabac,” a new Micro by Sophie Nunberg.

theoffingmag.com/micro/mon-ta...