February 4, 2024

“Zzzzzz….” A Short Story by Dan Brook 

“Zzzzzz….” A Short Story by Dan Brook 

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.” Feeling a little sticky with sweat and having butterflies in his stomach, Anatta was getting anxious and slightly panicky. He realized the irony of racing to the San Francisco Zen Center, but he could not help himself. He was rushing to get there, just so he could sit still in silence to calm his mind, supposedly to see “the nature of reality” as he had read somewhere. It wasn’t the only irony, to be sure, and he got agitated thinking he was running late, though he was actually on time as usual.   Exiting the MUNI station, as Anatta did each week, he was still in…

Continue reading →

June 18, 2023

19 June, 2023

19 June, 2023

Two Works for Juneteenth by Cori Sims I am . . . More like an eclipsed sun, I am Shade under a tree The stout beer in your gullet A mouth of a cave The skin of the polar bear I am Ever present, inescapable Behind your eyes I began in your mother’s womb And will swallow you with delight In your end No thing is beyond my reach Above the clouds and stars Or deep in the cracks of the mind I hold no fear Of what I am All I must do is Be ** Know Thyself to be Seen A conversation last week with a dear friend revealed a door, a chance to expand a philosophical concept and apply it to Juneteenth, the recently nationalized commemoration of the militia event that drove…

Continue reading →

April 4, 2023

“Spring in Siberia” – A Novel by Artem Mozgovoy

“Spring in Siberia” – A Novel by Artem Mozgovoy

Red Hen Press and Fictional Cafe celebrate today the publication of Spring in Siberia, the first novel by a young writer named Artem Mozgovoy. Born in Central Siberia, he finds solace in the literature he reads and begins to write. Spring in Siberia is his coming of age story, told in fiction. This excerpt is from Chapter 16. An interview with Kate Gale, Managing Editorand Executive Director at Red Hen Press, follows it. ‘I’m afraid that I love you,’ my classmate spoke quickly and quietly, but I managed to catch his words before they melted in the evening smoke. We were standing on the sixteenth-story balcony, on the top floor of the tallest building in our city. Neither he nor I lived in that block, but we knew that each level gave access to a…

Continue reading →

August 17, 2021

“(UN?) HOLY ALLIANCE” — Blog by Steve Sangapore

“(UN?) HOLY ALLIANCE” — Blog by Steve Sangapore

(UN?) HOLY ALLIANCE: Why the Titans of Science and Religion Continue to Clash As humankind advances into its increasingly globalized future, one of the most pressing existential issues of the modern age is the growing tension (and sometimes hostile sparring) between religious systems and the scientific enterprise. Tenants of religion would claim they have suffered blow after blow at the hands of faithless scientists with little regard for the killing of God. And that science, in its attempt to corner the market on truth and understanding, has belittled religion to a state of being little more than destructive dogma grounded in the parochial and patriarchal superstitions of iron-age peasants. Additionally, the scientific community often charges religion with being fantastical, anti-progress, radical, tribalistic, and even governmentally favored. Some would say that we need only to turn…

Continue reading →

July 8, 2021

KJ Hannah Greenberg — Guest Blogger

KJ Hannah Greenberg — Guest Blogger

Bleary Eyed While Fired Up   My eyelids want to dance together. My brain would rather watch a YouTube video about New York City’s housing market or about a kid being born to a goat herder’s favorite doe than edit one more essay in the book galley spread before me. My life partner struggles to appreciate that every pass I make on my manuscript represents one less set of communications that will be needed between me and my publisher. The lone adult child, who still lives at home, offers to fill a hot water bottle for my back, to grill fish filets for our dinner, and to drag all our garbage to the curb. After spending a few minutes updating my poetry submissions log, I return to my opened file. In truth, I am grateful…

Continue reading →

This is your site

Welcome to the Fictional Café! Your baristas are interested in all genres of short fiction, poetry, excerpts from novels-in-progress, your photographs, art, and audio or video podcasts. We encourage you to share your work for publication in the Fictional Café. Click on the Join/Submit button above to learn more.

Archive

Facebook

No feed found with the ID 1. Go to the All Feeds page and select an ID from an existing feed.