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Direct link: November poetry (MP3)

In this episode of the Strange Horizons podcast, editor Anaea Lay presents poetry from the November issues.

  • "Counterpart" by Stefanie Maclin, read by Julia Rios. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Stefanie here.
  • "What the Higgs Boson Means to Me" by C. W. Johnson, read by Anaea Lay. You can read the full text of the poem and more about C. W. here.
  • "Sand Bags" by Dominik Parisien, read by Anaea Lay. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Dominik here.
  • "Datafall" by Richard Larson, read by Julia Rios. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Richard here.



Anaea Lay lives in Chicago, Illinois where she writes, cooks, plays board games, reads too much, and questions the benevolence of the universe. Her work has appeared in many places including Apex, Penumbra, Lightspeed, Daily Science Fiction, and Nightmare. She lives online at anaealay.com.
C. W. Johnson's poems have appeared in Asimov's, Stone Telling, Goblin Fruit, Star*Line, and non-genre magazines. His 2012 poem "Vigor Mortis" was nominated for a Rhysling Award. Johnson's fiction has been published in Analog, Asimov's, Interzone, The Other Half of the Sky, and elsewhere. He is a professor of physics specializing in theoretical nuclear physics, and his research articles appear in Physical Review C and elsewhere.
Dominik Parisien is a Franco-Ontarian living in Montreal, Quebec. His poetry has appeared in print and online, in the 2013 Strange Horizons fundraising bonus issue for example, and has been reprinted in Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing. He is the poetry editor for Postscripts to Darkness, provides editorial support for Cheeky Frawg Books, and is a former editorial assistant for Weird Tales.
Julia Rios is a queer, Latinx writer, editor, podcaster, and narrator whose writing has appeared in Latin American Literature Today, Lightspeed, and Goblin Fruit, among other places. Formerly a fiction editor for Strange Horizons, their editing work has won multiple awards, including the Hugo Award. Julia is a co-host of This is Why We're Like This, a podcast about how the movies we watch in childhood shape our lives, for better or for worse. They've narrated stories for Escape Pod, Podcastle, Pseudopod, and Cast of Wonders. Find them on Twitter as @omgjulia.
Richard Larson's short stories have appeared in ChiZine, Electric Velocipede, Pindeldyboz, Vibrant Gray, and others. He also reviews books and movies, and he blogs at http://rlarson.typepad.com. He is currently a graduate student at New York University.
Stefanie Maclin's poetry and short fiction have appeared in such publications as Battered Suitcase, Illumen, Star*Line, Astropoetica, and Dreams & Nightmares. A full list of her publications can be found at http://thesilentpoet.livejournal.com/253812.html. She currently lives in the Boston area, where she spends her days as a librarian.
Current Issue
29 May 2023

We are touched and encouraged to see an overwhelming response from writers from the Sino diaspora as well as BIPOC creators in various parts of the world. And such diverse and daring takes of wuxia and xianxia, from contemporary to the far reaches of space!
By: L Chan
The air was redolent with machine oil; rich and unctuous, and synthesised alcohol, sharper than a knife on the tongue.
“Leaping Crane don’t want me to tell you this,” Poppy continued, “but I’m the most dangerous thing in the West. We’ll get you to your brother safe before you know it.”
Many eons ago, when the first dawn broke over the newborn mortal world, the children of the Heavenly Realm assembled at the Golden Sky Palace.
Winter storm: lightning flashes old ghosts on my blade.
transplanted from your temple and missing the persimmons in bloom
immigrant daughters dodge sharp barbs thrown in ambush 十面埋伏 from all directions
Many trans and marginalised people in our world can do the exact same things that everyone else has done to overcome challenges and find happiness, only for others to come in and do what they want as Ren Woxing did, and probably, when asked why, they would simply say Xiang Wentian: to ask the heavens. And perhaps we the readers, who are told this story from Linghu Chong’s point of view, should do more to question the actions of people before blindly following along to cause harm.
Before the Occupation, righteousness might have meant taking overt stands against the distant invaders of their ancestral homelands through donating money, labour, or expertise to Chinese wartime efforts. Yet during the Occupation, such behaviour would get one killed or suspected of treason; one might find it better to remain discreet and fade into the background, or leave for safer shores. Could one uphold justice and righteousness quietly, subtly, and effectively within such a world of harshness and deprivation?
Issue 22 May 2023
Issue 15 May 2023
Issue 8 May 2023
Issue 1 May 2023
Issue 24 Apr 2023
Issue 17 Apr 2023
Issue 10 Apr 2023
Issue 3 Apr 2023
Issue 27 Mar 2023
Issue 20 Mar 2023
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