All my words have left me. My tongue has slithered sluglike from the hollow of my mouth.

It's hard to write in times like these. Hard to speak. But there is something inexplicable in the written word, something ineffable. Fiction and poetry are the canvases on which we paint our hopes and dread. In systems that would silence us, writers scream with the scribbling of pens, the soft clacking of keyboards.

Short fiction reviews by Danai Christopoulou. Stories reviewed include "And She Had Been So Reasonable" by Rachel Bolton (published in Apex #117), "Any Good Sacrifice" by C. J. Subko (published in Small Wonders #17), "House Traveler" by Thomas Ha (published in Bourbon Penn #34), and "Telling the Soul of Mars" by Alina Pete (published in Augur #7.2 ).

The summer is ended, and we are not saved.

Okay, that sounds a little dramatic. Let's try that again.

Dear Reader,

The summer is ended, and we can now drink tea and wear our autumn jackets.

It lacks a certain gravitas, sure, but that's why no one has ever asked me to found a new religion. It'd be more pumpkin spice and less eternal damnation, and then where would we be?

Short fiction reviews by Danai Christopoulou. Stories reviewed include "Sibilance" by E.G. Condé (published in Interzone), "Safe Passage" by Elia Karra (published in Fractured Lit), "Once There Was Water" by Katie McIvor (published in The Dark), and "The Angel’s Share" by Martin Cahill (published in Reactor).

I once read that people facing parole hearings have a much better chance of release if their hearing is early in the morning. This is because, by the afternoon, the parole board has decision fatigue—the parts of their brains responsible for hearing testimony and weighing evidence are literally exhausted, and so they just start saying no to everyone. This is, in fact, a terrible reality that incarcerated people face in this country, and it's only one of the very many aspects of the carceral system that has to fundamentally change.

Short fiction reviews by Danai Christopoulou. Stories reviewed include "A Pilgrimage to the God of High Places" by Marissa Lingen (published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies), "The Plasticity of Being" by Renan Bernardo (published in Reactor (previously Tor.com)), "At Night She Dreams of Silverfish" by Monica Joyce Evans (published in Apex), and "We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read" by Caroline M. Yoachim (published in Lightspeed).

I. It’s 4am on 5/27/2024.

II. It’s been an interesting few months. I got fired in November. Ran a gofundme to support me in December. Also, got admitted to Chicago’s Art Institute as a student. Started fighting with Unemployment in January. Drained my measly 401k in February. Finally got my money from Unemployment. Received a read from a cherished friend, because of which I’m moving to Chicago in July.

III. These poems and fictions, like my life at the moment, are about change. Resisting it. Surrendering to it. Massaging it and its outcomes.

Short fiction reviews by Danai Christopoulou. Stories reviewed include "An Incomplete Body Has No Answers" by Angela Liu (published in Lightspeed), "Your Sword, Your Trumpet" by Anjali Patel (published in The Deadlands), "In the Year 2067 I Will Be 95 Years Old" by Sage Tyrtle (published in Reckoning), and "If You Wake" by Avra Margariti (published in Hexagon).

Short fiction reviews by Danai Christopoulou. Stories reviewed include "There Are Only Two Chairs, and the Skin Is Draped Over the Other" by Alexia Antoniou (published in Bourbon Penn), "Give Me English" by Ai Jiang (reprinted in Fusion Fragment), "The Memory Shop" by Melissa Ren (published in Fusion Fragment), and "Godskin" by CL Hellisen (published in Strange Horizons).

Haven Spec Magazine is now a pro-paying market! We're grateful to everyone who supported our Kickstarter, and we are so glad to be able to give our wonderful authors the rates that they deserve. We have big plans for 2024, including interviews with some amazing editors, stories from across the width and breadth of the human experience, and short fiction reviews from your very own Haven Spec staff (okay, mostly Danai). I very much want Haven Spec to be a part of the wider SFF community, and that means paying people what they deserve, shouting out the stories and magazines we love, and publishing as much awesome fiction and poetry as we possibly can.