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Direct link: The Opening of the Bayou Saint John (mp3)

In this episode of the Strange Horizons podcast, editor Anaea Lay presents Shawn Scarber's "The Opening of the Bayou Saint John." You can read the full text of the story, and more about Shawn, here.

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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.
Shawn Scarber’s stories have appeared in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Black Denim Lit., and a handful of themed anthologies. He’s a Clarion West 2006 graduate and an active member in the Future Classics Speculative Fiction Writing Group. He lives in North Texas with his amazing daughter and her opinionated cat. Rhiannon Rasmussen-Silverstein is an illustrator, comicker and writer who works with traditional and digital medias. She enjoys contrasting humanity with elements of monstrosity and phantasm. Rhiannon’s work has appeared in galleries & magazines including Lightspeed Magazine, ZEAL, Tankadere, Shimmer, and the Sockdolager. Find more at http://www.rhiannonrs.com and on Twitter as @charibdys
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2 Mar 2026

Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons invites non-fiction submissions for our March 30 special issue on “Fungi in SFF.”
Once I’ve finished writing, I will fold this letter up and tuck it into the Tristram you kindly loaned me (may it be our Galeotto … ). I’ll knock on your door, at which point I will most likely encounter a puzzled maidservant, who will ask who in the world I am, and I will explain that I am returning a book you were kind enough to bestow on me (generous creature that you are and clearly down-on-their-luck weatherworn would-be poet that I am).
the trees were softening, their bark for the hungry to scrape and scrape and spread it on whatever bread they could beg or bake
i must warn you before all else / before you poke and prod
Paul Kincaid and Dawn Macdonald join Dan Hartland to discuss style.
Strange Horizons
2 Mar 2026
Strange Horizons invites non-fiction submissions for our March 30 special issue on “Fungi in SFF.”
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