Small Rebellions by Claire Hennessy

“It’s inevitable that the bed feels too empty, that the television blasts through the walls along with Conor’s laughter, that she ends up knotting her dressing-gown around her waist and curling up next to him on the couch. Inevitable that his hands undo that knot, his fingers sliding against bare skin, and that when his tongue works its magic between her thighs it’s impossible to remember that the walls are paper-thin. ”

Photo © Marianna Santikou

The October 2015 edition of Long Story, Short Journal by Irish writer Claire Hennessy is a reminder of the importance, even now, of Virginia Woolf's dictum: "A woman must have money and a room of her own..." if she is to be an artist. 'Small Rebellions' is the portrait of a talented young woman struggling against the tide of duty, obligation, and everyday minutiae, which is dragging her away from her own work inch by inch. Also featured in this edition is Marianna Santikou's photo 'Missed Opportunity'. READ 'SMALL REBELLIONS'.

Snapshots by Eileen Keane

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Photo © Linda Raymond

"I feel disengaged from my life, as if it is a series of stills from a film, or moments captured in images that I offer to the earth. I spread them out there and examine them and rearrange them as if by doing so I might somehow find answers. The older ones seem faded and when I look at them it’s as if my head fills with noise, but when I focus on the ones that link to this place, the din fades and the mellifluous sound of the clarinet takes its place."

Long Story, Short Journal's July 2015 edition is a unique tale from Hennessy-award winning writer Eileen Keane. 'Snapshots' examines tensions that affinity for one's 'home-place' can create in a relationship, while offering 'snapshot' portraits of the endurance and strength that can be drawn from love.  CLICK HERE TO READ 'Snapshots'.

The Alexandra Role

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Dear Ms. Neumann, I have already drafted this letter many times. I think, when I write it now, that I am no longer writing to you but to myself, or Alexandra. If I were a religious or a romantic man I might propose God, but you have usurped his claim to omniscience, and He could never forgive me better than you.

February's edition of Long Story, Short Journal is Sydney Weinberg's 'The Alexandra Role' with a photo by Jillian Lukiwski. 'The Alexandra Role' takes Barthes's death of the author for a walk around Nabokovian territory, in a narrative which is both witty and haunting. Romance has well and truly passed in this tale where the feminine has gone missing, and a replacement is being recruited.  READ 'THE ALEXANDRA ROLE'.

Lake House

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Photo © Kristen Johansen

Smoke inhalation, electrocution by live lines, roof collapse. Burning. Any of those deaths might have seemed more normal, or at least appropriately courageous. If he’d rushed straight into hell with a pike pole and a booster line, no one would have batted an eye. But Gus died in bed. And that didn’t sit well with some people.

American writer Jason Kapcala is the author of the July edition of Long Story, Short Journal. 'Lake House' explores the question of how a person constructs their own legacy. Readers are immersed in the crucible of risk and relationships, questioning exactly how much 'fire' one can cope with while maintaining human connections. Photo provided by Kristen Johansen. READ 'LAKE HOUSE'.

Axman

Photo © Mitch Weiss

“It was the guitar that made us stop for him, that and the unmistakable silhouette, in black, of Castle Bran painted on the white guitar case. The black suit and black and white striped shirt also helped. His hair was long and grey – once black? – and he was as tall and skinny as a lamppost. The only incongruous thing about him was the pair of tiny John Lennon glasses perched on his somewhat long nose.”

'Axman'​ is a wonderfully weird offering from renowned poet and writer Matthew Sweeney, co-author with John Hartley Williams of the novel 'Death Comes for the Poets'. In 'Axman', Sweeney draws on his years in both Germany and Romania to create a unique tale of a guitar-wielding hitchhiker one couple will forever regret picking up, but will also never forget. Sean O'Brien describes Sweeney's approach at the British Literature Council website: "Disliking the term 'Magic Realism', he [Sweeney] has proposed the name 'Alternative Realism'. In this realm, the mundane world lies open to the proverbial, to the peremptory logic of folktale and to the possibility of nightmare derived from what Sweeney calls 'European darkness'." The darkness, humour and lingering mystery in 'Axman' make it a story well worth reading. CLICK HERE TO READ 'AXMAN'.