Wrath Bearing Tree

New Fiction by Josh Bates: Excerpt from The Baghdad Shuffle - Wrath-Bearing Tree The patrol was unsettling. The initial ‘liberation’ euphoria had soured. It was all bad vibes from the second we exited the Country Club. Hard brown faces casting the evil eye. Old men sitting in fron...

"It was all bad vibes from the second we exited the Country Club." Excerpt from a new fiction novel set in Iraq, "The Baghdad Shuffle." In the August issue of Wrath-Bearing Tree.

New Interview with Karie Fugett - Wrath-Bearing Tree I think at the time I was just kind of following my orders. And then, by the time I was thinking something's wrong, I was so in it that I just kept following. It really took a couple of years before I...

WBT editor Lauren Kay Johnson chatted with Karie Fugett about Fugett's debut memoir, Alive Day. We always love publishing interviews!

New Nonfiction by Karie Fugett: Excerpt from Alive Day - Wrath-Bearing Tree Dillon crawled in circles on the carpet, the TV behind him glowing with reports of destruction and death. Though it had been only days since the boys left, it felt much longer.

Powerful excerpt of Karie Fugett's debut Memoir "Alive Day," a story told from the perspective of a young military spouse whose husband, a Marine, is wounded in Iraq.

“Nothing to be but apathetic in this clime of ours;
nothing too great, too small, too precious for us.
War is a necessary casualty; and if said enough,
like magic, like hypnotism, the masses soon agree.”

Beautiful timely poems by Galen Cunningham in the July issue of @wrath-bearing-tree.bsky.social

New Poetry from Galen Cunningham: "Winter of Discontent" and "War Games" - Wrath-Bearing Tree New Poetry by Galen Cunningham

Poetry from July's issue by Galen Cunningham. A couple wonderful finds. As always, Poetry Editor @amalieflynn.bsky.social doing amazing work.

New Fiction by Neil Allen: The Scar - Wrath-Bearing Tree The two boys creep towards the edge of the crater and stare across.

Great piece of post apocalyptic fiction. Short, powerful, and beautifully written. Just some kids kicking around, having fun, exploring their world. In July's issue of WBT.

New Fiction by David James: Oxenstone - Wrath-Bearing Tree Dark clouds were building over the mountains to the north, like Giorgione’s Tempest. I bought a glass of red at the rooftop bar and stayed to enjoy the view. The tour was over.

New short fiction in July's issue: a young officer stationed in Italy navigates Army society and the ancient town in which he finds himself unexpectedly stationed.

New Movie Review: In “The Interpreters,” Home Is No Place At All - Wrath-Bearing Tree “The Interpreters,” a new documentary film by directors Sofian Khan and Andres Caballero, is a raw, emotionally vigorous, and, only too often, devastating look into the lives of Iraqi and Afghan inter...

THE INTERPRETERS (2018) documents this struggle. I reviewed it for @wrath-bearing-tree.bsky.social at the time. seeing this headline now is physical painful.

If you've gotten your start with us or have published with us and that ends up in a collection of poetry or short fiction, drop us a line! We're always glad to read and boost.

Review of Sheila Dietz's The Berry and the Bee - Wrath-Bearing Tree Her poetry is rarely sentimental or wildly emotional, but rather steady, wise, and quietly observational.

Review of Sheila Dietz's debut poetry collection in the July issue of WBT — Sheila published a poem with us, "They Gave Their Lives," which appears in the collection.

New Fiction by J. Malcolm Garcia: Pleasantries - Wrath-Bearing Tree The gauze bandage had come off in his sleep, and he touched a bare patch of warm skin and the tight line of ten stitches with the tips of his fingers. He was conscious of the wound, its need for prote...

Beautiful fiction in June's issue about pandemic era relationships, masks, and navigating southern California as an Afghan refugee.

#awp2026 panel submitted! Thank you @wrath-bearing-tree.bsky.social; @consequencef.bsky.social for your support!
More at: michellereneebrady.com/info

New Poetry by Benjamin Bellet: "What Was It Like?"; "Zero Five Thirty"; "West Point" - Wrath-Bearing Tree New poems by Benjamin Bellet

Powerful, imagistic poetry by Benjamin Bellet about places familiar to many Army officers — West Point, the haze of deployment, the haze of training in garrison — in June's issue of Wrath-Bearing Tree.

Preparation For The Next Life - What We Want Is Not What We Will Get - Wrath-Bearing Tree Preparation for the Next Life is Atticus Lish's debut novel, and an exceptionally fine one at that. Should be on everyone's reading list, full stop.

Nearly 10 years ago @bonenberger.bsky.social reviewed "Preparation For the Next Life" by Atticus Lish; among other things he talks about the fitness and workout culture that is such an important setting for the novel, and has since become prevalent among veterans and American men

New Review and Interview by Larry Abbott: James Wells' Because - Wrath-Bearing Tree He was 39 years old at the time of his death, and left a wife, Betty and three children, Ora, Kathleen, and the youngest, nine-year old James.

In the June issue: a review by frequent contributor Larry Abbott of a Vietnam War memoir by the son of a scrupulous officer who died in 1965. Great piece and interesting interview, as always.

News Sites Are Getting Crushed by Google’s New AI Tools Chatbots are replacing Google’s traditional search, devastating traffic for some publishers.

Here at WBT, we stopped using SEO after a brief and annoying experiment with it in 2015, and never depended on search results to boost readership, instead relying on word-of-mouth and native sharing and boosting. One advantage of poverty? Can't lose what you don't have!

New Interview with Kevin M. Kearney - Wrath-Bearing Tree But on a personal level, I don’t think there is an easy way out. I think the real answer is you need to go the other way—you need to change your mind. If you believe that tech is intentionally trying ...

New issue out this week for June — half a dozen pieces, including this Q&A with author of the novel "Freelance" (also excerpted in this issue) Kevin M. Kearney.

A sickness of the soul: remembering Adam and Tim Davis - Wrath-Bearing Tree Brothers Adam and Tim Davis joined the military together. After Adam died in combat, Tim contracted a "sickness of the soul" from which he never recovered.

For Memorial Day weekend here's a story we share every year around this time. By @bonenberger.bsky.social

New Nonfiction by Evan Balkan: In Praise of Awe - Wrath-Bearing Tree It’s hard to define, awe. But certainly we know when we feel it. It’s a rare thing, buried under the onslaught of daily routine and the indignities of, say, a red traffic light when we’re late for wor...

Beautiful essay in the May issue of Wrath-Bearing Tree about the importance of awe: of standing beside that which is greater than you and letting oneself feel overwhelmed.

New Fiction by Michelle R. Brady: Thirty Broken Birds - Wrath-Bearing Tree I. Valley of Quest Before what happened to Christine, before arriving in Iraq, before even leaving Nebraska, all we knew for sure is that there would be violence and sand. We began by trying to solve ...

In case you missed this remarkable story from our December issue last year: during a combat deployment to Iraq, the women of one unit have to fend of enemies outside the wire while worrying about others on their own FOB.

New Poetry by Loretta Tobin: "In the Dead Man's Seabag" and "River City" - Wrath-Bearing Tree A blue ribbon marked First Thessalonians, where he had underlined— Be joyful always;

In the Dead Man's Seabag and River City are two poems by Loretta Tobin in the May issue of WBT. Powerful, spare, and vivid pieces.

A wonderful piece of non-fiction in this month’s issue of @wrath-bearing-tree.bsky.social !

WBT's May issue is live, with nonfiction and poetry for the discriminating reader!

Check out our new issue, live now. May's short — but good!

Quote from WBT May essay "Binge" by Matt Eidson: "Sometimes I'd imagine that compressing the areas of fat would break apart the tissue and allow it to dissolve into my body. In my downtime, I would knead the fat to a pulp."

Kick WBT's May issue off with Binge, a beautifully written essay about running and one man's relationship with his body. And thank you @amalieflynn.bsky.social for the beautiful promo to advertise this extraordinary piece! www.wrath-bearingtree.com/2025/05/04/n...

Quote from WBT May essay "Binge" by Matt Eidson: "Sometimes I'd imagine that compressing the areas of fat would break apart the tissue and allow it to dissolve into my body. In my downtime, I would knead the fat to a pulp."

Kick WBT's May issue off with Binge, a beautifully written essay about running and one man's relationship with his body. And thank you @amalieflynn.bsky.social for the beautiful promo to advertise this extraordinary piece! www.wrath-bearingtree.com/2025/05/04/n...

New Poem by John Thampi: "Ad Memoriam" - Wrath-Bearing Tree New poem by John Thampi: Ad Memoriam

Read this poem about coming home from war to a different, new sort of battle — with oneself, and one's memories — in this April's issue of WBT

New Poetry by Ben White: "Cold" and "Cold II" - Wrath-Bearing Tree New poetry by Ben White - "Cold" and "Cold II"

New poem in April's issue by poet Ben White, about the Cold War, and being frozen in memory and by the perceptions of others — of what it means to be a veteran when you didn't spill the hot blood of your enemies.

More on WBT Editor Matt Jones' new book, out soon: Jones on Jones (he interviews himself).