Posted on August 1, 2018
By Zachary Alapi
A Review of J.R. Helton’s Bad Jobs and Poor Decisions
J.R. Helton’s Bad Jobs and Poor Decisions (Liverlight 2018) accomplishes a unique feat: the weaving of social universality and cultural specificity. For Helton, that means a raw exploration of class, the most pressing and relevant issue we face, couched in the sounds and sights of 1980s Austin — the music, the drugs, the hustlers, and the grandiosity and pomp that only a state like Texas, in all its carnivalesque glory, can render both thrilling and morbid. As readers follow Jake Stewart, a burgeoning artist bent as much on self-destruction as producing great writing or visual art, as he navigates the bloated landscape of Ronald Reagan’s America. An undertone of paranoia and stasis infuses this wry and dark book with urgency and energy that even readers disconnected from the setting and era can feel.
Posted on May 14, 2018
excerpt from "The Fish and the Dragons"
Posted on May 14, 2018
excerpt from "The Wet Nurse Late of the House of Karenin"
1. Available immediately
Posted on May 14, 2018
Excerpt from "The Press"
The materials had finally arrived. On the porch lay twelve body-length planks, a cardboard box, and three Styrofoam tubs shaped like lozenges. Cliff nicked the planks free of their straps and ran one shaking hand along the grain. Nestled in a wad of bubble wrap was a jar of screws in a shade so silver they were almost blue. Cliff considered calling in sick, but he had double history in the afternoon, and his class was already behind.
Posted on April 12, 2018
By Sarah Howden
Kate Osana Simonian has won The Fiddlehead’s 27th annual Short Fiction Prize for her story “The Press.” The following interview was conducted via email with Editorial Assistant Sarah Howden in March 2018.
Posted on June 6, 2017
The New Brunswick Book Awards ceremony was held at Memorial Hall at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton on May 24th. It was a wonderful ceremony with music provided by Jane Simpson and Gerard Collins. Colleen Kitts-Goguen emceed the event and David Adams Richards provided an inspiring and moving keynote speech.
Posted on May 10, 2017
Kate Finegan's story "Blues Too Bright" won the fiction prize as part of The Fiddlehead's 26th annual literary contest. You can read an interview with her here.
Blues Too Bright
"Have you noticed the birds are shitting more lately?” Mother calls to ask. I wait for my eyes to focus and see that it’s six a.m. on the dot. I imagine she’s been sitting by the window since four, waiting for a reasonable hour to call.
Posted on April 10, 2017
By Andrew Ramos.
Kate Finegan has won The Fiddlehead’s 26th annual Short Fiction Prize for her story “Blues Too Bright.” The following interview was conducted via email with Editorial Assistant Andrew Ramos in March 2017.
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Posted on January 23, 2017
By Grace Annear
Sheila McClarty’s "Flag Girl" appears in The Fiddlehead No. 269 (Autumn 2016). The explosive story depicts a woman processing the ravages of cancer. With a straightforward voice, it uses stunning sensory details to focalize a rich and paradoxical point of view.
Posted on November 29, 2016
By Andrew Ramos
Richard Kelly Kemick’s story “This All Brings Me to Now” appears in the Autumn 2016 issue of The Fiddlehead. He has been published in literary magazines and journals across Canada and the United States, most recently in The Walrus, Maisonneuve, Carte Blanche, and Tin House. His debut collection of poetry, Caribou Run, appeared in spring 2016 from Goose Lane Editions.
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