“Per tal que ningú no oblidi la teva lluita incondicional per un món millor”

—Epitaph for Gerda Taro (1910–1937)

Issue 2021.56

Flash fiction

• ‘Gendered Anatomy’, R.E. Andeen

Novelettes

• ‘k.a. (birthright)’, Lam Ning
• ‘The Listener’, Sim Kern

Poetry

• ‘Rumors of Women’, Laura Cranehill
• ‘The Risk of Embarking’, Lynne Sargent
• ‘Rain on St Andrew’s Night’, Ana Gardner
• ‘How to Dismantle a Defective Sex Droid’, Ashley Bao

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The struggle for a better world is not only unconditional, it is perpetual. Every victory, every improvement in the state of the world or bolstering of human rights, only reminds us that there is more to be done. A defeat is a setback, but a win is part of the ongoing process of getting better.

The stories and poems in this issue are not acts of revolution, they are not bricks thrown, votes cast, manifestos cosigned. But they are testimony to the urge to make all of our lives more bearable. They are stories in which the defeated know there is hope for recovery and maybe even peace; in which those who have escaped know the struggle for survival is not over; in which we may dream of radically reinventing ourselves, or remember the value of self-preservation, or are reminded of the wanton inhumanity of others.

Not that we’re in danger of forgetting, this year of all years, the need to keep fighting.

On another note, later this year (probably October but just possibly sooner) we will be publishing a Noir-themed issue of TFF, guest edited by Valeria Vitale. We’ll be talking about this more in the coming weeks, but for starters you can see the call for submissions here. So don your stetson whippet and your strapless valentino, follow your mark through the grimy streets of the undercity, try to lose more slowly, and write some genre-busting words about it while you’re here. Clichés are all there to be subverted.

In the meantime please dig in and enjoy the words of Ana, Ashley, Lam, Laura, Lynne, R.E. and Sim, the images of Carmen, Cécile, Eric, Gwen, Josep and Katharine (and spare a thought for our editors, slushreaders and copyeditors); and vive la révolution, mes amis!

Djibril al-Ayad, January 2021

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