Centaur Lit

"In the time it took for the girl to guess, light traveled from the Sun to Mercury, the rabbit ear TV singing its white noise ostinato to anime battle music..."

Read "At the Dentist’s in Arlington Heights" by Tina S. Zhu

centaurlit.com/at-the-denti...

"In this timeline, you and I are nothing but familiar strangers who no longer recognize the one thing that glues them together."

Read "Lifetimes" by Sarp Sozdinler

centaurlit.com/lifetimes-by...

"When wildfire consumed Dad’s house I asked if anything of yours survived the flames so intense they reduced the fridge to a clinker..."

Read "Reminiscing With Grandma’s Ghost," by Kathryn Silver-Hajo

centaurlit.com/reminiscing-...

"Drives with him were always silent, but there’s no silence like a winter storm."

Read "Cancer: A Love Story," by M.C. Schmidt.

centaurlit.com/cancer-a-lov...

"The beauty was in the woman’s heartbeat as she gave birth to this music, the double-bass and double meaning of the song about blood running thicker than water.."

Read "Bebop Baby" by Nora Nadjarian

centaurlit.com/bebop-baby-b...

For a long time, I lived in my childhood—first as a child, then for many years after. I sat on the back patio and spit watermelon seeds into the grass where the snakes soaked up the sun.

Read Wind Horse by JR Fenn
centaurlit.com/wind-horse-b...

At midnight, I saw her tall shadow before my bed and felt her fingers running through my hair that was annoyingly wet; her last signatures were etched as remembrance into its fresh wetness then.

Read "Paradox of Love," by @ahmedmehreen.bsky.social
centaurlit.com/paradox-of-l...

The winter issue of Centaur is live with work by writers @ahmedmehreen.bsky.social, JR Fenn, Nora Nadjarian, M.C. Schmidt, @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social, @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social, @tinaszhu.bsky.social, and artist @zebulonhourse.bsky.social

centaurlit.com

Really thrilled for you!

Best Microfiction The Best Microfiction anthology series provides recognition for outstanding literary stories of 400 words or fewer.

Congratulations to writers Kathryn Kulpa, Cathy Ulrich, and Tara Isabel Zambrano for selection of their work from Centaur in the 2025 Best Microfictions!
www.bestmicrofiction.com/index.html

"She wants something other than one less text, than another, and seeing Jimmy online anyway posting and putting up photos of him at the dog park with Snook, the dog they adopted together..."

Read "Something Other," by Francine Witte.

centaurlit.com/something-ot...

"After, I scooped the bee from the water. It was heavier than you’d think. Plush as a mascara brush."

Read "Conspiracy," by Michelle Ross.

centaurlit.com/conspiracy-b...

"Our sixteen handmaidens bathe in the creek. Before they’re shaped, dried, painted by me and sister. We argue about colors. We paint the myths. Each handmaiden holds a flower. Each flower is a prayer."

Read "Papier-Mâché Sestina" by Claudia Monpere

centaurlit.com/papier-mache...

If it's not bitter, it's not tea - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine Photo by Mona Mok on Unsplash by Elena Zhang They look like arms, the honeysuckle petals that unfurl in the boiling water, blooming again briefly to embrace emptiness like dying women. By the time the...

“If It’s Not Bitter, It’s Not Tea” – @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social (April 2024) gooseberry-pie.com/if-its-not-b...

“Rat Queen,” “Quack” – @thehooghlyreview.bsky.social

“A Single Ladybug, Lying Dead on the Windowsill” – @centaurlit.bsky.social
Pushcart Prize nom centaurlit.com/a-single-lad...

BIG thanks to the wonderful @centaurlit.bsky.social for nominating "Conspicuous Consumption"!

My Speculative Short Fiction Roundup #10 - 2024 The artwork for this roundup features a detail of the cover for Clarkesworld #219 by Alex Ries. More about the artist here:  https://www.a...

My latest short fiction roundup features stories from @clarkesworldmagazine.com @psychopomp.bsky.social @newyorker.com @centaurlit.bsky.social @trollbreathmag.bsky.social @interzone.digital @escapepod.org @lightspeedmagazine.com @nightmare-magazine.com & more!

No! It's good to take pride in your work, and you have had a fabulous year!! Congratulations!

Completing celebrations for this year, a round of applause for this year's Best Small Fictions nominees...

"A sparrow will cock its head and stare at you with thoughtful eyes as you go on about the stove repair guy with his iPad, high billing rate, firm ass and attitude."

Read all of "A Sparrow Will Listen," by Andrea Marcusa
centaurlit.com/a-sparrow-wi...

Please join us in congratulating the writers for their fine work nominated for this honor.

"The bear-woman came to the crematorium and asked me about her lover, a bear-man who had come in the night before and was heaved up onto the Corian slab..."
Read "Alaskan Tale," by Christopher Linforth, from the winter issue
centaurlit.com/alaskan-tale...

Celebrating the winter issue with the delicious "Hot And Sour" by Jacqueline Goyette.
"My mother had vinegar running through her veins. She passed it down to me, my brother, gave us plates of lumpia to drench in garlic vinegar sauce..."
centaurlit.com/hot-and-sour...

Best Microfiction 2025 nominations for Centaur are: Crossroads Diner Blues, 1937, by Myna Chang; Hot And Sour, by Jacqueline Goyette; Mushrooms, by Kathryn Kulpa; Trolley Rocket, by Sumitra Singam; and Manual for an American Novice in a Small Indian Town, by Tara Isabel Zambrano.

This has been another great year for writing. Congratulations to our nominees for Best Microfiction 2025!