the diarist reads aloud ⤴

in another of my online communities, we're responding to the self-isolation that COVID-19 has imposed on the world by returning to an age-old tradition: oral storytelling. we're reading stuff for each other. maybe some of you need a story. I warn you, I didn't pick stuff that was especially cozy.

links = mp3s hosted on google drive

stories

Black Box by Jennifer Egan (54min) – originally published as a series of tweets on the New Yorker's Twitter account over nine days, it's a science fiction short story in the form of "mental dispatches" from a spy.

Vesp: A History of Sapphic Scaphism by Porpentine (45 min) – "a vespo-sapphic pesticidepunk UV romance thriller" by the incomparable porpentine charity heartscape. this is a piece of interactive fiction (hypertext), so you can listen or watch the screen capture of me playing it.

East of the Sun & West of the Moon from The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (24min) – a norwegian fairy tale with some beauty and the beast vibes. a girl, a bear, an enchantment, and a faraway castle.

3 Stories from The Commuter (22min) – "Osterizer Classic Series 10 Cycle Blender" by Emily Everett; "Someone Who Will Feed Me Cherries" by Emily Brout; and "Brocade" by Naomi J. Williams. these stories and many more can be read online in The Commuter, a literary magazine by Electric Literature.

white queen, red heart by Molly Hall (40min) – a fairy tale reimagining. this one is dark and hungry.

snow white, blood red by Molly Hall (24min) – sequel to the above.

The Hive Abroad by Laura Michet (40min) – "Sam lived among aliens for five years. Coming back home has been harder than he thought." an experimental, nonlinear sci-fi short story about friendship, community, and changing yourself.

3 Stories from Terraform (27min) – "The Portal" by Meg Elison; "Finding" by John Menick; and "I Like Your Bangs" by Lilian Min. find these stories and more speculative fiction online: Terraform from Vice.

September - Litany - Miracles (15min) – "September 1, 1939" by W.H. Auden; "Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out" by Richard Siken; and "Miracles" by Walt Whitman.