Thank you so much for sharing!

Explaining to Our Dog Why We Decided to have Children Matt Barrett   Two months after we had our first child, our dog asked if he could speak to us. Upstairs, our daughter slept in her bassinet, our dog’s ears rising every time she stirred. They’…

"We seemed more tired, disorganized, too easily annoyed. But wasn't that what love looked like sometimes? The baggy eyes, the cloudy minds."

Read @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social

pitheadchapel.com/explaining-t...

The Long Save - Prairie Schooner Sometimes I tell it this way: my father saved a man’s life once. He didn’t ask for anything in return. He simply saw the man was choking and ran inside to

Truly, truly thrilled to be in the latest issue of @prairie-schooner.bsky.social. Volume 100, Number 1 is available to order, and if you'd like a sneak peek, you can find my story here! prairieschooner.unl.edu/excerpt/the-...

New Issue Cover of the Lonelines issue of Prairie Schooner, featuring an image of two people sitting on a bench in front of a painting of a couple in a room (Edward Hopper's Room in New York)

Contributors Spring 2026 Volume 100 Number 1 Kurt Andersen Daniel Barnum David Hernandez Ross White Andrew Garvin Olufunke Ogundimu Teo Rivera-Dundas Christtie Jay L. A. Johnson Scott Cairns Alex Tretbar Robert Brian Mulder Jeremy Tavares Warren Woessner Alexandra Malouf Tara Mesalik MacMahon Judith Vollmer Matt Barrett Terese Svoboda Jeannine Hall Gailey Adam O. Davis Kelan Nee Daniel Hales Milena Nigam Elizabeth Crane Edwardson Ukata Winniebell Xinyu Zong Bryan Obinna Okwesili Brad Aaron Modlin Chisom Okafor Cynthia Sylvester Saddiq Dzukogi Yosra Bouslama Ervin Krause Rose McLarney Jamila Osman Ciara Altaro Aimee Nezhukumatathil

The Loneliness Issue is here! Our Spring 2026 issue is now shipping. See the full table of contents, read excerpts from the issue, and order your own copy here: prairieschooner.unl.edu/issue/spring...

Explaining to Our Dog Why We Decided to have Children Matt Barrett   Two months after we had our first child, our dog asked if he could speak to us. Upstairs, our daughter slept in her bassinet, our dog’s ears rising every time she stirred. They’…

“Does she make you happy?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“You don’t seem any happier.”

Gorgeous new story from @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social 👨‍🍼

pitheadchapel.com/explaining-t...

Thank you so much for reading and sharing, James, I truly appreciate it!

if you’ve ever had a baby or an elderly pet or both or just want to read a story of love & inevitable endings next to impossible beginnings, this story by @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social is for you 🥹👇

Thank you so, so much for reading and sharing. Your description of the piece means so much to me!

Thank you so much, editors!

our new issue!

pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...

SERGE LECOMTE
MEGHAN PROULX
MATT BARRETT @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social
JENNA CROWDER
ERIK KLASS
TRACIE ADAMS @tracieadams.bsky.social
SHERI VENEMA @sheriven.bsky.social
HANNAH AHN
RUSSELL BRAKEFIELD @russellbrakefield.bsky.social
CHOISELLE JOSEPH

Thank you so much, Emily!

The Great Frontier — Ghost Parachute By morning, we dug ourselves a trench. And hung photos in the dirt, old posters from our bedrooms, framed within the mud. We paced the few feet back and forth, crouching so no one could see our bobbin...

Read "The Great Frontier" written by @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"By morning, we dug ourselves a trench. And hung photos in the dirt, old posters from our bedrooms, framed within the mud. We paced the few feet back and forth, crouching so..."

tinyurl.com/4j8n5arn

Thank you for including me in this issue, Brett!

The Great Frontier — Ghost Parachute By morning, we dug ourselves a trench. And hung photos in the dirt, old posters from our bedrooms, framed within the mud. We paced the few feet back and forth, crouching so no one could see our bobbin...

"In the creek, we scoured for crayfish, sucked the meat straight from their tails. We buried their skeletons to solidify the floor. One of us said we were pioneers, the other said we were just playing"

@mbarrettwriter.bsky.social writing brilliant things as usual: ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...

Thank you, Matt!

Dog in the sun reading my latest story in The Sun Magazine. Deeply grateful to the editors for including another story of mine in one of the greatest publications on earth ❤️❤️ www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/602...

‘…she’d just hung there with her hair sweeping the woodchips and eyes shut tight like she was sleeping.’

What a central image to this fantastic flash from @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social 🦇

fracturedlit.com/first-they-f...

Thank you so much for reading and sharing, James!

That's great to hear, thank you so much for reading it!

I have a micro in @fracturedlit.bsky.social today! Thank you so much to the editors for picking up "First, They Fall": fracturedlit.com/first-they-f...

new issue of Cutleaf! Featuring short fiction by @ladiwoods.bsky.social, nonfiction from @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social, and poetry courtesy of @taylorfthiel.bsky.social

cutleafjournal.com/issue/5-19

I hope you like it!!

The Reunion - Cutleaf Journal Our five-year-old son asks us for forgiveness. He apologizes for what he did this morning. He hangs his head and paces before our TV, even with his favorite

Grateful to Cutleaf Journal for publishing my essay, "The Reunion," today! It was inspired by walks with my son on the Gettysburg battlefield and the impossible task of teaching a 5 year old about good and bad. cutleafjournal.com/content/the-...

Thank you, Frances!

This is a wonderful story.

The Seafood Stand Once, my father drove from New Jersey to California by siphoning gas from strangers’ cars, then sent his van off the Pacific Coast Highway by laying a brick on the accelerator. His mother almost died ...

‘Once, my father drove from New Jersey to California by siphoning gas from strangers’ cars…’

The Seafood Stand by
@mbarrettwriter.bsky.social

www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/sea...

Thank you for sharing, Anika!

Thank you, Eileen!

Thank you so much, Sarah!

The Seafood Stand Once, my father drove from New Jersey to California by siphoning gas from strangers’ cars, then sent his van off the Pacific Coast Highway by laying a brick on the accelerator. His mother almost died ...

The August issue of @thesunmagazine.bsky.social features one of my stories which I have been so excited to share for months! Grateful to Finn Cohen and all of the editors for helping me get this piece ready for publication. I'd be honored if you checked it out! www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/sea...