“To invent stories about a world other than this one has no meaning at all, unless an instinct of slander, belittling, and suspicion against life is strong in us: in that case, we avenge ourselves against life with a phantasmagoria of another, a better life.”

—F. Nietzsche, Götzen-Dämmerung

Issue 2023.67

Flash fiction

• ‘Collective Bargaining’, Jonathan Olfert - art by Carmen Moran

Short stories

• ‘Just as You Are’, Juliet Kemp
• ‘Microseasons of the Dead’, Vanessa Fogg - art by Cécile Matthey
• ‘Woman, Soldier, Girl’, Priya Chand - art by Katharine A. Viola
• ‘Crumb Cutie Exodus’, Bernie Jean Schiebeling - art by L.E. Badillo

Poetry

• ‘How to Plant an Olive Tree on the Moon When All Is Lost’, Elena S. Kotsile - art by Fluffgar
• ‘How Magic Will Help You Take the Bastards Down’, Beth Cato - art by Melkorka

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We have an open call for hopeful SFF from now until the end of the year.

We invite submissions of stories (flash to novelette) or poems for a themed issue of The Future Fire. We would like to see optimistic or hopeful—or even cuddly—futures and fantasy worlds, including (but not restricted to), solarpunk, hopepunk, spoopy horror, cozy, utopian, happy-ever-after/happy-for-now, stories that tease with the better-than-now rather than warn with the (even-)worse-than-now, golden age sense of wonder, radically inclusive and accessible futures or secondary worlds.

You know the drill: use the normal guidelines at http://futurefire.net/guidelines/index.html. Please add “HOPEFUL” to the email subject line to help us with sorting, but we will consider subs from the general pool for this issue, and vice versa.

This call will be open until the end of 2023 or the issue is filled.

In the meantime, enjoy the stories, poems and art by Bernie, Beth, Carmen, Cécile, Elena, Fluffgar, Jonathan, Juliet, Katherine, L.E., Melkorka, Priya and Vanessa in this issue. There’s a certain amount of fierce hope in all these pieces, although there's nothing cozy or easy in any of them; a fair response to the world we have to navigate today.

Djibril al-Ayad, October 2023

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