Talbot Spy – Page 2

Spy Reprints “Goodbye Mr. Kamali” by Sepideh Zamani

February 5, 2023 By The Editorial Team

Editor’s Note: “Goodbye Mr. Kamali,” from the review’s 15th anniversary edition, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize in fiction.

Author’s Note: “Growing up in a country under theocratic rule, I witnessed most Iranians suffering from religious and cultural cleansing, the root of Iranians’ ongoing uprisings today. Minorities, especially Jews and Baha’is, are in constant danger still. Here, I am a young girl hiding in a cupboard, listening. I discover the crime of my father’s friend: his refusal to convert to Islam, and the fate he will suffer for it.”... [Continue Story]

Spy Reprints “Now Only in Part” by Marda Messick

December 18, 2022 By The Editorial Team

Author’s Note: Since I first looked into a kaleidoscope as a young child, I’ve been fascinated by and deeply curious about perception. How do we perceive the world and apprehend mystery? How do we know what we know about anything? Our limitations and the possibility of enlightenment always are juxtaposed, as they are in the poem. I’ve come to rely on poetry itself as a way of perceiving and knowing the world, other people, and the divine.... [Continue Story]

Spy Reprints “Lemon Ginger Tea” by Robin Gow

December 11, 2022 By The Editorial Team

Author’s Note: I wrote “Lemon Ginger Tea” after spending a winter afternoon with my brother. We are both at really transitory moments in our lives and this felt especially true that day. Both our conversation and where we sat felt so indicative to me of both being in a liminal space together. In a lot of ways, I see the poem as being about brotherhood and being able to know someone’s life from that perspective. I use the “you” to try to convey that closeness to the reader so hopefully they can feel it too... [Continue Story]

Spy Reprints “Rescue” by Jessica Claire Haney

December 4, 2022 By The Editorial Team

Author’s Note: “Rescue” was my first attempt at writing flash fiction when I craved something immediate and stark in between revisions of a novel. That initial dabble with flash years ago spawned a series of stories about women who reluctantly come to care for dogs. While most of the other pieces—flash fiction, short stories, and a novella—deal with connections between people or with nature, and some even have hopeful notes, my firstborn remains my favorite... [Continue Story]

Spy Reprints “The Entropy of Little Things” by Martina Kado

December 4, 2022 By The Editorial Team

Author’s Note: I live just outside of Baltimore, in a historically blue-collar neighborhood surrounded by water and wildlife. Sometimes it feels like living in a novel Gabriel Garcia Márquez and Kurt Vonnegut could have written together: filled with the magic and tragicomedy of the universe. As people and animals were dying around me, I wrote this narrative meditation on the disheartening matter-of-factness of transience and finding comfort in tiny acts of kindness and each new day... [Continue Story]

Spy Reprints “A Room Too Small for Sunsets” by Sayan Aich Bhowmik

December 4, 2022 By The Editorial Team

Author’s Note: The poem tries to uncover the gnawing sense of loneliness and alienation that has become a characteristic feature of life in the cities. With every passing day, no matter how well we remain connected to the outside world through social media, there is always this sense of emptiness that devours us. This poem tries to capture that sense of angst and the problematics of belonging... [Continue Story]

Spy Reprints “Elm Trees” by Michael Carrino

November 9, 2022 By The Editorial Team

Author’s Note: “Elm Trees” started as my memory of watching the daily removal of the last trees destroyed by Dutch Elm Disease. Period photos of Clinton County, New York show the damage to the landscape caused by the disease. Soon even long-time residents would have only a vague memory of elms. As I wrote each draft during the height of the pandemic, the trees took on a haunting sense of fear and helplessness... [Continue Story]

Spy Reprints “From Here” by Lillie Gardner

October 31, 2022 By The Editorial Team

Author’s Note: I started writing “From Here” years ago in Los Angeles, on the trip that the piece is about. I was processing a breakup, helping my sister move to a faraway place, and generally figuring out how to be alone. The piece is about gathering strength to live life for your own sake—and finding the courage to go forth into the unknown... [Continue Story]

Spy Reprints “The White Egrets” by Richard Tillinghast

October 31, 2022 By The Editorial Team

Author’s Note: “The White Egrets,” from my new book, Blue If Only I Could Tell You, reflects life in an isolated place in the country. The scene specifically draws on where I live in the upland regions of Hawaii Island, but other readers may recognize treasured places of their own. Here I am emulating the style of classical Chinese and Japanese poets like Du Fu and Basho... [Continue Story]

Spy Reprints “Bratwurst Kid” by Richard Peabody

October 18, 2022 By The Editorial Team

Author’s Note: I used to play guitar in college with the late poet David Hickman. We’d workshop songs we’d written. And one day he told me, “Your song lyrics really suck as songs but they might make pretty good poems.” Turns out I’ve rubbed elbows with a lot of musicians since then. Some had the chops to escape the bar scene. I was a hack and never would have made that leap. I had to make a decision and my focus shifted to poetry and fiction. This poem is the possible road not traveled by a failed singer-songwriter... [Continue Story]

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