“I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place. I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level.”

—His Grace, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu

Issue 2022.60

Flash fiction

• ‘Before We Drown’, Vanessa Fogg - art by Katharine A. Viola

Short stories

• ‘Ten Degrees of Freedom’, Sean Chua - art by Fluffgar
• ‘Mrs. Daedalus’, Marianne Xenos - art by Joyce Chng
• ‘I’m Fine’, P.L. Salerno - art by Sarah Salcedo
• ‘Every Quivering Fold of Flesh’, Jennifer R. Donohue - art by L.E. Badillo
• ‘Make of Me a Comet’, Kit Harding - art by Cécile Matthey

Poetry

• ‘Return to the Cities’, Marie Vibbert - art by Eric Asaris
• ‘Degenerate’, Avra Margariti - art by Josep Lledó

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We talk a lot about hope here in TFF, the radical courage that it takes to imagine a future that isn’t always as bad, not in all ways, as the world we seem to be building. But it’s equally important sometimes to dare to admit how bad things are, that they may get worse before they get better, not to mention remind ourselves of the worst that could happen (science fiction is a warning, not a promise). This doesn’t mean that we must be hopeless, only that the future worth fighting for is going to need a real, hard fight.

And so this month we have stories and poems that hit us hard, with tales of environmental apocalypse, dystopian struggle and exploitation, neglect, body horror, invisible disability, terminal illness, and surreal, inescapable monsters. But we also have beauty, humour, fantasy, feminism, irrepressible underdogs and radicalism. We also need to own our horrors, to hold onto our victories and joys, even if they are now just memories, to take the fight on our own terms. If we have to go all the way to hell to find the path back out, then—see you there!

And so come and enjoy and be invigorated by the grittily beautiful words of Avra, Jennifer, Kit, Marianne, Marie, P.L., Sean and Vanessa; the fabulously weird artwork of Cécile, Eric, Fluffgar, Josep, Joyce, Katharine, L.E. and Sarah. They all see the world in ways that help us make sense of it, even if it’s not always the sense we’d like to find, it’s the one we need to be reminded of.

We’ve something a little different for you next time, but we’re back to our regular programming for the June issue. See you then!

Djibril al-Ayad, January 2022

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