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Because the world was full of holes,
she made a man of cardboard and children's salt clay,
pressed in two green pennies for his eyes
and gave him half her life.
He woke as if from a dream of drowning,
gasping for the sweet air of the Earth.

The way of things came, so he went away
to trace sidewalks and cluttered beaches.
When he saw that the world was full of holes,
he made a woman of wrapping paper,
brown-bottle glass and masking tape
and gave her half his life.

She stood, turned away from him
and said: "The world is full of holes
that sing when the air rushes through."
Walking down to the ragged water,
she made a school of tinfoil fish
and gave them half her life.




Originally from Mississippi, Stella Nickerson studied engineering at Brigham Young University. She is now pursuing an advanced engineering degree at Arizona State University. Her poetry has previously appeared in Cicada and in Strong Verse.
Current Issue
7 Sep 2026

Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons will open to general fiction submissions on October 1, 2026, at 3 p.m. UTC! This window will remain open until we hit our submission cap of 1,000 stories. Our maximum word count for this window will be 5,000 words. We offer payment of 9¢/word USD. We do not read simultaneous or multiple submissions. Response time: Our goal is to respond to all submissions with either a hold notice or rejection within eight weeks. We hope to send acceptances or rejections within one month of hold notices. This is ambitious, and we might fall behind schedule. Please be patient
iii. There are no protocols for plotting to kill the King, so Alise talks about killing the King, whispers her plan in the Queen’s ear while they lie tangled in the Queen’s marital bed, Alise’s fingers tracing bruises that should not be there.
missed his mouth; tongue slipped in
but to live in that dusty old apartment house... crawling with Satanists
In this episode of Critical Friends , the Strange Horizons SFF criticism podcast, AJ Odasso and Electra Pritchett join Dan Hartland to talk about popular fiction.
We’re especially happy to announce some new appointments at the Reviews Department.
Wednesday: The Hunger of Those Who Built It by Wendy Waring 
Friday: The Language of Liars by S. L. Huang 
Issue 31 Aug 2026
Issue 24 Aug 2026
Issue 17 Aug 2026
Issue 10 Aug 2026
Issue 3 Aug 2026
Issue 27 Jul 2026
Issue 20 Jul 2026
Issue 13 Jul 2026
By: Aimee Ogden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 6 Jul 2026
Issue 29 Jun 2026
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