When librarian Talmadge Strong innocently misunderstands his neighbors’ crude joke, he’s mortified—but that’s just the beginning of his confusion. As a mysterious fever takes hold and strange encounters multiply at the Mount Airy Library, Talmadge finds himself slipping between reality and myth, between the stacks of books and the forests of ancient legend. A chance meeting with “The Author” forces him to confront an impossible question: who do you want to be?

Told with surreal wit and playful erudition, The Real Satyrs of Mt. Airy is a fever dream of a story from writer Steph Rantz. Rantz weaves together local folklore, literary references, and contemporary life to create a dizzying meditation on identity, desire, and the thin boundaries between fiction and reality. With 25 years of experience working in a historical library collection, Rantz brings insider knowledge to this darkly comic tale of transformation.

The Real Satyrs of Mt. Airy is a work of short fiction. 36 pages.

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Steph Rantz was born in Mississippi but has lived most of his life in North Carolina. He is currently an ALM candidate in Harvard’s Creative Writing and Literature program, as well as a member of the Yale Writers Workshops of 2023 & 2024. He has works in Miracle Monocle, Prime Number Magazine and O. Henry Festival Stories. Two of his one-act plays were performed in Raleigh, NC. He has worked for 25 years in a historical collection for a municipal library

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When Jack announces he has “beaver fever” and needs to find a woman, his sister Suzie reluctantly agrees to be his wingman for a night out in Wheeling, West Virginia. What follows is a darkly comic tour through dive bars and failed pickup attempts, while Suzie grapples with her own complicated relationship to the declining Rust Belt town she never wanted to return to. A chance encounter with Mike, the local brewmaster, offers a glimmer of possibility—but can anyone really escape the gravitational pull of home?

Told with sharp wit and unflinching honesty, Beaver Fever is a story about the places that shape us from writer Robert Long Foreman. Foreman draws on his own experience growing up in Wheeling to create a portrait that’s both brutally realistic and deeply compassionate, capturing the complex feelings we have toward the places we’re from.

Beaver Fever is a work of short fiction. 32 pages.

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When Grace encounters the little horse at the market, she feels a connection. She’s come to western China to teach English — as far away from Kentucky as she possibly can get — but something about the horse reminds her of home, and she knows she has to help it. Adopting the horse stirs memories of her former life, and the man she left behind.

Told in a masterful braiding of past and present, Of Love and Water is a story of renewal from writer Elizabeth Burton. Burton brings her personal experience of living in western China to the story, sharing glimpses of Uyghur culture and language. Of Love and Water is a work of short fiction. 32 pages.

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Another Way of Coming Home follows the troubled Harley Upton, a drug addict on the run after committing a crime that landed him on the local news—and on the Bartlett County police department’s radar. His search for a hideout leads to an encounter with a woman from his past, with severe consequences for both of them.

Told close in to Harley Upton’s own point of view, Another Way of Coming Home steeps readers in the rich beauty of the Appalachian land while reminding them that no man is safe from the justice of the mountains. Another Way of Coming Home is a work of short fiction. 24 pages.

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'Rapture' chronicles the end of the world as witnessed by a wise-beyond-her-years teenager named Sarah. From a holler in far eastern Kentucky, Sarah and her brother Micah are forced to create a new normal under mysterious and scary circumstances. While they cope with the slow end of the world in different ways, Sarah reflects on what made life worth living in the first place. 45 pages.

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"Five Little Fatalities" is a work of short fiction. It tells the story of Honey, a young woman living on the edge of a widower's farm in rural Virginia. Honey sells mushrooms and other intoxicants to the owner of the farm, Mr. An. The two develop a tender relationship despite their differences in age and circumstances. As Honey becomes closer to Mr. An and as his mental health deteriorates, she finds herself speculating as to the cause of his husband's departure. Examining their relationship patterns and artistic temperaments, Honey divines that she and Mr. An are not that unlike after all. "Five Little Fatalies" is a reflection on how isolation breeds unusual relationships to people, creativity, and art. 36 pages.

Longlisted for the Perennial Press 2022 Chapbook Award

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Four curious chickens find themselves in the fastidious Mrs. Britin’s yard, much to her annoyance. With a front row seat to her exasperation, Mrs. Britin’s neighbors watch the woman losing more and more of her cool, taking escalating actions to rid her yard of the free-range pests. But just how far is Mrs. Britin willing to go?

Lemon Street’s Angel of Death is a dark comedy from author Larry D. Thacker. A wry commentary on the interpersonal antics of small town neighborhoods, the story will ring true for anyone who has butted heads with a nuisance neighbor. Lemon Street’s Angel of Death is a work of short fiction. 28 pages.

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