Selvi Bunce Image Source: Colin Boyle / Chicago Sun-Times Is there value in holding onto the past when you’ve already embraced the new? Why did I sometimes struggle with the simplest of questions? It wasn’t always easy being me. I mean, I stood out from all the other kids in our cookie-cutter suburb in middle America. … Read moreLetting Go and Holding On by Ashley Gin
Image source: Penguin Books “The moral covenant of reciprocity calls us to honor our responsibilities for all we have been given, for all that we have taken. It’s our turn now, long overdue. Let us hold a giveaway for Mother Earth, spread our blankets out for her and pile them high with gifts of our … Read moreBraiding Sweetgrass Review by Miranda Mlilo
You’ve already been here. One year ago, you traveled to a different dimension, a dimension of upper class, privilege and fame. You were among the elite and the stars, where your dreams looked like reality. It felt like a secret place behind a secret door which you opened with a key of your imagination. … Read moreThe Appetite Zone or Penny Dreadful for a Marxist by Pavel Frolov
CW: anxiety, unraveling Estefani’s phone vibrated. The screen read “unknown” and she declined the call. By then, she knew “unknown” usually meant debt collectors. She noticed the hangnail on her middle finger only after she dipped her nail in acetone. The burning sensation was quick and sharp. She sucked in air, teeth clenched, and let … Read moreUnknown by Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez
TW: child abuse I took a deep breath of the cold air. Although it was summer, this night was chilly. The moon was hiding behind dark clouds, so I could barely see the asphalt in front of me. Even the buildings surrounding me were only black shapes. But it didn’t matter. I knew this neighborhood … Read moreThe Taste of Caramel by Sarah Filippczyk
Hi Mixed Mag! I’m Capri Huffman, a new contributor. I run a book-themed Instagram (@sobstorybooks) with my friend Gabby, reviewing and promoting books by LGBTQ and BIPOC authors. My goal with my new book review series here at Mixed Mag is the same: to help great books by marginalized authors find the audiences they deserve! … Read moreJade Legacy Review by Capri Huffman
CW: intimate partner violence Gloria sat on the stiff motel mattress horrified, staring at her daughter’s silhouette in the next room. She shuddered, looking around Room 48 which was probably no larger than a prison cell. It smelled of a suspicious amount of disinfectant, lightly scraping her nostrils as she breathed in. Gloria could only … Read moreHOPE by Mimi Mutesa
My family has the luck of a penniless black cat at a high-stakes casino. When I was twelve, my mother, my father, and my older brother Jeffrey took a vacation to Hawaii. Jeffrey went surfing in the deep, blue ocean while I stayed ashore and observed jittery sand crabs as they popped in and out … Read moreThe Most Beautiful Things Could End Us by Zach Murphy
I recovered consciousness two days after my abuela died. I “came to” in a speeding Luis Muñoz Marín bound car somewhere between Mayagüez and Ponce. My eyes settled on an orange green-blotted vista; indeterminate and soft enough to accommodate a reluctantly awakened awareness. Three inert blinks sketched a peak – backlit by the dawn – … Read moreIf I Could Memorize Those Mountains by Paulina Calistru
[The Beginning of My Conscious’ Enlightenment] “Though Kameny did not have a word for it yet, by exposing the arbitrary logic of the purges with his own, contrary logic, he formulated gay pride as a political tool of resistance, a weapon to be wielded…” – Eric Cervini, author of The Deviant’s War, the Homosexual vs. … Read moreAnd That Was That by Jackson McAlister