“We have a beautiful history, and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world.”

--Marcus Garvey

Issue 2013.26

Short stories

• ‘Dare’, Sophie Clarke - art by Eric Asaris
• ‘Bluebird Magick’, Alexis A. Hunter - art by Cécile Matthey
• ‘Liquid Loyalty’, Redfern Barrett - art by Martin Hanford
• ‘Whose Side Are You on Anyway?’, Sarah L. Byrne - art by Laura-Anca Adascalitei

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Loyal readers will have noticed that there have been no new stories from TFF for over six months. At the end of last year our submissions dropped almost five-fold, and while they've partially recovered, we still receive far fewer stories than we had over the last couple years. (I have no idea why this is, but have been playing with a few ideas for addressing it, including themed issues, more guest editors, promotional activities.)

In the meantime, we shall continue to release issues of the magazine as often as we feel we have enough stories to warrant it, whether that be twice a year or six times a year. I've never been dogmatic about deadlines.

Not to say of course that we haven't been busy in the last six months: Outlaw Bodies has been available in book form since November, and has received some attention and good reviews. The We See a Different Frontier anthology, featuring stories about colonialism from the voices of the colonized, is also about to appear (August 1st), and review copies will be available any day now. I can't wait for you all to be able to read it—the stories in it are genuinely wonderful.

What do you think we should do next? I'd love to hear any suggestions, nominations, encouragement or offers from the people who really matter: our readers. Would you like to read themed issues (and if so on what themes)? Should we publish less frequently but, say, increase our pay rate? Who would you really like to see co-editing a special issue of the magazine? Can't promise to act on all of your suggestions, but we will take them seriously!

In the meantime, enjoy the four wonderful stories and sets of illustrations in this issue. We have stories about children, dystopias, fables, political allegories, and pieces that may even be all of the above. I think this one will be worth the wait.

Djibril al-Ayad, June 2013

Comment on the stories in this issue on the TFF Press blog.