Main Content
POETRY
don’t look just pray
by Natalka Fydyshyn
the eyes on my knees get misty and cruciform from so much time shit-eating at the pew. by pew i mean my two favorite bathroom tiles, by pew i mean any god’s green my eyes can get a good grip on. the shit-eating is an ancient agreement that stipulates i don’t get a say in […]
My Socks at Night
by Celia Easton Koehler
i take my socks off, ball one inside the other, and tuck them under my pillow. i like that in the morning, i can put my socks on before getting out of bed. i dread feeling cold & the cold’s emphasis on maintenance or covering up, which is a form of separating oneself from the […]
FICTION
VALKISBA
by Amy Yaish
“Commander Mason, Commander Roland, you’re all clear. Welcome to the purple planet.” Blaise Mason saw the first of the planet’s namesake as the purple dust began to settle. It was beyond her imagination. The wormhole was functioning. Aliens were real. Valkisba was real. And she was one of the only human beings in history who […]
Stealth Autopsies, Every Damn Friday by Dane Rook
Agarwal kept a signed Yankees baseball bat hanging on the wall in is his office, and whenever he needed to concentrate, he’d take it down and fondle it, like those little stones that dufuses keep in their pockets, for when they get worried – and worried is exactly what all of us junior guys at […]
NONFICTION
The Squirrels and the Pecan Tree
by Elizabeth J. Wenger
We wanted the pecans. The squirrels also wanted the pecans. And therein, as they say, lay the problem. Let us start another way. Say the pecan tree is a symbol sprouting in the grassy lawn of my youth. A symbol of what? you ask. Let’s say a symbol of my family’s dominion. Our domain. Our […]
My Other Sister: Understanding My Mother through her “Forgotten” Pregnancy
by Delia Lloyd
In November 2017, I stumbled upon a photo of a person I didn’t recognize. Buried amongst my mother’s socks, it was a picture of a baby girl in a white, ruffled dress. The girl—I’d guess she was about a year old—was seated alone in the middle of a long, mid-century vinyl sofa with brass buttons. […]
TRANSLATION
Jalebi
by Zekeriyya Sükkerî El-Bosnavî, translated from the Ottoman Turkish by Denis Ferhatović
Nedür ol kurs-ı müşebbek-endâm Zann ider anı gören bedr-i temam Zerd-rû itmiş anı pûte-i kâl Regleri olmış anuñ halka-misâl Katre-i ter iken ol sîm-ı mûzâb Görinür sûziş-i ğamdan pür-tâb Çıksa bâzâra ger ol puhte-dimâğ Sürh u rengîn ider anı sabbâğ Bedr iken olsa şikeste fi’l-hâl Yerine hâsıl olur niçe hilâl What is that round thing, […]
The Hill
by Yuriko Miyamoto, translated from the Japanese by Joanne Dare
Translator’s Note The three years Yuriko Miyamoto (1899-1951) spent in Moscow had a profound effect on her life and work. Although still in her twenties, she was already an acclaimed novelist when in 1927 she set out for the Soviet Union with her female lover Yoshiko Yuasa (the “friend” mentioned in the text). She returned […]
REVIEWS
Review: The Witness of Nina Mvungi and Other Stories by Esther Karin Mngodo, translated from the Swahili by Jay Boss Rubin
by Eleanor Whitney
Taking a feminist approach to subjects like motherhood, class, colorism, and the implications of human-caused climate collapse, The Witness of Nina Mvungi and Other Stories (Hanging Loose Press, 2025) is the first collection of speculative fiction by award-winning Tanzanian author Esther Karin Mngodo to be translated into English from Swahili. The stories were translated by […]
Review: tommy wyatt blake’s MIASMAMIST: a poetic display of egoist anarchy
by mk zariel
This review is a reprint. It was originally published by fsm. Review: tommy wyatt blake’s MIASMAMIST: a poetic display of egoist anarchy As the narrative begins, a nameless figure hands over their business card, yet no name or job title appears—instead, the card bears a grimly honest statement about the reader’s life: “trust me, i’m […]
CULTURE
I Switched to a Flip Phone for a Month—and Didn’t Hate It
by Palak Godara
Before you continue reading this essay, try something mildly inconvenient: if you’re reading this on your phone, switch to your laptop. There’s a decent chance you won’t. You’ll probably glance at the length of this piece, instinctively return to Instagram, and continue watching someone reorganize their fridge in under thirty seconds while a sped-up voice […]
Christian Nationalism and the Dubious Possibility of Change
by McKenzie Watson-Fore
This essay is written by MAYDAY magazine’s Critic in Residence For the previous three pieces in this critical residency, I’ve focused on evangelicalism, the intersections of Christian and mainstream literature, and the collision of pop culture and evangelical subculture. For my fourth piece, I want to turn the lens toward an expression of evangelicalism more […]
