From the Editors
Apparently our readers have lots to hide, because we got hundreds of great submissions for The Hidden Agendas Issue. We're very excited about what we have for you inside: new music from local hero and international superstar Chuck Prophet, an unreleased song from Sean Hayes, foot-stomping bluegrass from the Stairwell Sisters, and more in our music section; blasphemy from memoirist Joe Loya; wonderful new poems from Valerie Coulton, Diana Der-Hovanessian and others; flash fiction about the end of time served with tortillas con mantequilla; and great new short stories about paranoid bunker building, broken-hearted environmentalists, and La La's Guthriecrucian Songbook, a Bildungsroman that speaks for itself. Please take a look and enjoy!
And then head over to our Submissions page to read about our next issue, The Contest Issue. The theme for Issue #5 is a free-for-all - and there are prizes to be won. Each section will have a different judge: Michelle Richmond, Edie Meidav and Tom Barbash in Fiction; Julia Scheeres in Creative Nonfiction; Maxine Chernoff in Poetry; Kerri Stephens in Photo-Essay, and Rosalie Howarth in Music. We also have a new short film section. Please read the guidelines carefully as they are different this time! We even have a new mailing address.
Click here to see photos from the release party, held on January 15 at the Club Deluxe in San Francisco.
AND SO IT BEGINS:
I Have One Video by Allison Carter
FLASH FICTION
Time Will Have a Short Introduction by Elena Minor
SHORT STORIES
La La's Guthriecrucian Songbook, A Bildungsroman by Kim Gek Lin Short
Oregon by Trevor Houser
For the Dogs by Katie Flynn
Date-Stamped by Deirdre Woollard
The Canvasser by Michael Scott Moore
From Hymnals to Hymens by Joe Loya
In the Shadow of the Prison by Nell Bernstein
We Conquered the Galaxy and All I Got Were These Feety Pajamas by Matt Betts
Answering Issac by Aaron Cooper
from The Orange Window by Valerie Coulton
Hidden Agenda by Diana Der-Hovanessian
Still Life, Sealed Letter by Carrie Katz
from Apartment by Julia Bloch
The Bear's Cage by Lori Romero
West Memphis Moon by Chuck Prophet
Looped Inside by Sean Hayes
Wish I Was by The Stairwell Sisters
Steve's Going on a Beer Run! by Van Stone
Buildin' on Your Case by JP Jones
Random New York Street Portraits by Tom Erikson
Get ready for some great writing about fights and flights, and that unnerving gray area in between.
Admit it. We look fantastic. I mean, just look at us! We're still big and we're still ugly, but my God. We can hardly stop looking at ourselves.
This issue was a "first time" for us in many ways. It was our first contest - each category of The Contest Issue had a different judge and the winner took home a prize, and the theme was a free-for-all.
Losing yourself in the world, and trying to find your way back.
Picking up the pieces, shaking what doesn't work anymore to see if it's really kaput.
The premiere Big Ugly Review looks at launches, debuts, rocky and triumphant starts.