Teachers always told me to write like Hemingway. With that lesson in mind, I feel the need to preface what follows: I apologize for, amongst other things, my long-windedness, loquacious garrulousness, bombastic verbosity, rambling blabbiness, general predisposition towards being voluble, and distaste of the laconic and brusque. Chiefly, I apologize for possessing a thesaurus. One eleventh … Continue reading On Brevity, in Writing
Short Story: The Beltane Fire
Ritsa watched the witches gather. The yew forest behind the hills bordered an absurd shade of green and were scattered with wildflower growths from the spring, which trilled with laughter in the warm dusk breeze. In a small valley within it there was dirt—a great brown clearing of soft decay that felt the absence of … Continue reading Short Story: The Beltane Fire
Artwork: Whose woods these are I think I know…
While it’s easy to forget stories, their details, characters, and perhaps even the imagery so painstakingly created for the page, it’s unnervingly difficult to forget the impression it leaves upon you. Cold, slippery, and often creeping into your thoughts long after the story itself has been filed away and stored in memory, old emotions from … Continue reading Artwork: Whose woods these are I think I know…
Short Story: Where She Belongs
He fell in love with her sitting on a park bench. Her skirt, decorated with small pink flowers, rustled and flowed softly in the wind as she sat alone, absorbing the chirps of the birds and the ripples in the pond. It seemed to him as if she belonged there, as if she were born … Continue reading Short Story: Where She Belongs
Postcards from an Offbeat Paradise
Driving town to town, I see little beauties and tiny facets that make and break the area: people, attractions, personality. It’s a nebulous idea and an easy ability being able to characterize an entire populace with a brief generalization in good accuracy, especially since road trips don’t offer much time and experience in three or … Continue reading Postcards from an Offbeat Paradise
Short Story: Heat Stroke
The sun scoured the football field for his next victim. He had a decent amount of fun with the asthmatic girl, even more with the boy who blew pineapple chunks. He noticed them sitting on the bleachers in their regular clothes, defeated. Which one will it be today? He perused all 52 options. None suited … Continue reading Short Story: Heat Stroke
Short Story: Motivation
She stared at the computer screen, at the cursor that continuously blinked in and out of existence until her vision blurred and she had to shake her head to bring herself back to the present. Work, work, work, always work to do. Dozens of old Post-it note to-do lists that she threw into the trash … Continue reading Short Story: Motivation
Artwork: Lana Turner Has Collapsed
This charcoal and ink drawing was inspired by Frank O’Hara’s poem, “Lana Turner Has Collapsed.” I had always loved the poem, and was inspired to draw this image when my English GSI this semester said O’Hara was one of her favorite poets. This poem had always haunted me, especially as someone who grew up in … Continue reading Artwork: Lana Turner Has Collapsed
Short Story: Coffee Shop Curator
There are a lot of trees in New York City. No, I don't mean Central Park—of course there are trees in the park. I mean it's like someone looked around at this dark grey place and thought, "Hey, why don't we just plant a bunch of shit so that when they try to say New … Continue reading Short Story: Coffee Shop Curator
Short Story: Prodigy
“Your mother brought this spinet with her when she got married.” I know what the word “spinet” means. I read it in a novel last week and then I found it in the dictionary, so I know that it’s a name for a type of very short piano. My siblings just call this a piano, … Continue reading Short Story: Prodigy
BERKELEY FICTION REVIEW 