Andrew Lafleche

Meritocratic poetry with contributions from: Ed Ahern, Christine Aletti, Taylor Altman, Lacey Beamer, Guilherme Bergamini, Michael Brosnan, Hannah Cajandig-Taylor, Laura Cok, Andres Cordoba, Tammy Delatorre, Michael DeMaranville, RC deWinter, Cheryl Dumesnil, David Freeman, Raymond P. Hammond, Heikki Huotari, Alison Lubar, Thomas Biancardo Mackin, DS Maolalai, Marc Meierkort, Mihica Anushree Prashant, Christopher Carter Sanderson, Chuck Sebian-Lander, Hannah Seo, C. Henry Smith, Erin Smith, Sydney Smith, Nick Snow, Skaidrite Stelzer, Carol Stewart, Ming Sun, Mary Turck, And Peter Coe Verbica.

Volume 18

Gravitas

Poetry without pretension. Contributors include: Tori Bryl, Christina Ciufo, Tori Darnell, Michael Denicola, Cole Depuy, Chen Du, Tova Feldmanstern, Josh Fuentes, Rebecca Ruth Gould, Robin Gow, Julia Hatch, Eliot Hudson, Megan Hutchinson, Keith Inman, Anika Jhalani, Sal Kang, Candice Kelsey, Andy Kerstetter, Ali Kilinc, Anthony Thomas Lombardi, Kayleigh Marinelli, Meh, Jessica Mehta, J. L. Moultrie, Dave Nielsen, J. Ray Paradiso, Tim Patton, Andrew Petrucci, J. Sean Rafferty, Hayden Rigby, Joel Scarfe, Brittany Smart, Rachel Smith, Susan Smith, Travis Stephens, Gerry Stewart, Timothy Strange, Meghan K. Strapec, Biljana Vasilevska, Sydney Virginia, Laura Walker, Tom Wood, Kylie Ayn Yockey, and Nicole Zelniker.

Edward Ahern

Igor V. Zaitsev

Kaier Curtin

Rachel Anne Parsons

Laura Manuelidis

Travis Stephens

Gordon Stumpo

Aaron Laughlin

Natalie Kaia Christiansen

Simon Tertychniy

Night Picnic is a bilingual journal of literature and art which publishes work in both English and Russian. This issue begins with the novella Sauerkraut Yankee by Kaier Curtin. The protagonist is a German-American teenager who stowed away on a cattle boat bound for war-torn Europe. Not only does he have threatening adventures at sea, but also has many others in British-occupied Germany and England. The novella Чёрточрев (Democorp) by Igor V. Zaitsev takes place in Moscow where a man gets possessed by a demon which creates terrifying chaos. Mysticism and phantasmagoria are tightly bound together in the plot of this novella, as well as in the short stories following the novellas. The pieces of prose are very different in style and genre and the only thing that they have in common is the warning sign: buckle up! Deep in our journal the reader will find the pearls of our first issue – poetry of different ranges and form. Unbound by a particular theme, they will intrigue, enchant, beguile and even scare you. Authors & Titles: Kaier Curtin, Sauerkraut Yankee (novella) Igor V. Zaitsev, Democorp (novella) Edward Ahern, The Hunter’s Moon (short story) Igor V. Zaitsev, Disappearance of Time (short story) Rachel Anne Parsons, Open Window (poem) Laura Manuelidis, The Play Never Ending & other poems Travis Stephens, Burn the Journals & other poems Gordon Stumpo, Rose Colored Sky & Empty School Hall (poetry) Aaron Laughlin, Expression’s Veil (poem) Andrew Lafleche, incisor (poem) Natalie Kaia Christiansen, Sunrays Think They’re So Special (poem) Simon Tertychniy, Foe (poem) Igor V. Zaitsev, My corpus tristis & other poems

Journal of Literature and Art

Night Picnic

Bestselling collection of poetry and prose about survival, loss, and love, beginning with the 2016 John Newlove Poetry Award poem, "defeated." Ashes deals with a different pain and heals a different heartache. Lafleche takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them-because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

Ashes

A Pardonable Offence is filled with Andrew Lafleche's remarkably unsettling interpretations of reality. This singular new short story collection is brimming with intensity accented by an unexpected dark humor. The true moralist, one who makes himself ugly to expose the ugliness seen all around, Lafleche isn't afraid to challenge the boundaries of fiction with inimitable abandon. Among the stories are, 'A Pardonable Offence', a disturbing short which illustrates the blurred landscape separating circumstance and choice; 'Parallels', a four tale collective, presents a devastating portrait of the suffocating oppression consuming modern life; 'Clayton's Cabin', concerns a man's alienation amidst a bizarre and dehumanized world. The final tale, 'Therapy', a blackly humorous portrayal of a patient's stream of consciousness, reveals an agonized consideration of violence directed toward faceless victims and sexual relations which border on criminal. It is a dark revelation of an over conscious individual whose psyche flirts with a level of paranoia skirting schizophrenic tendency. Appalling, thought-provoking, and entertaining, A Pardonable Offence is Andrew Lafleche claiming his voice: extreme and provocative. This collection will delight his growing number of fans and new readers alike.

Andrew Lafleche

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