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The Ex-Puritan

@ex-puritan.bsky.social

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Publishing fiction, poetry, essays, interviews and reviews. Proudly awarding The Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence. https://linktr.ee/ex_puritan

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The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Aug 25

The 2025 Austin Clarke Prize is open for submissions! This year's prize will be judged by Iryn Tushabe (fiction) & Faith Arkorful (poetry). To learn more & submit your work: ex-puritan.ca/news/the-202...

The photo is an announcement for The Ex-Puritan's 2025 Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence. The submission deadline is October 24, 2025. First prize: $1000, runner-up: $200. On the left is a photo of poetry judge Faith Arkorful against a purple background. On the right is a photo of fiction judge Iryn Tushabe against a blurred background.

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · 13d

The Ex-Puritan is proud to introduce our new Poetry Editor, Sanna Wani (@sannawani.bsky.social)!

Sanna Wani is a Kashmiri writer, editor and translator based in Toronto. She is the author of My Grief, the Sun (House of Anansi, 2022), winner of the 2023 Trillium Award for Poetry.

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · 14d

“When he looked in the mirror all he could see was the vague whiteness of her body beside him, her pale skin glowing a little in the dark.” –@elliottgish.bsky.social, from "In Glass" ex-puritan.ca/in-glass

Read Elliott Gish's short story "In Glass" in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · 15d

“Beyond the trees lay an ocean of rubble, as though a giant had sneezed and their small corner of the world had come tumbling down.” –Joyce Li, from "The Transmigration of Rabbits" ex-puritan.ca/the-transmig...

The Transmigration of Rabbits

Read Joyce Li's short story "The Transmigration of Rabbits" in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · 16d

“There were five weeks left of camp, 35 sun-drenched days and moon-spilled nights, and we weren’t going to waste a single one of them.” –Aaron Kreuter, from "Shimon's Trial": ex-puritan.ca/shimons-trial

Read Aaron Kreuter's short story "Shimon's Trial" in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · 21d

Jody Chan reviews Amy Ching-Yan Lam's Property Journal in Issue 70 of The Ex-Puritan: ex-puritan.ca/a-many-layer...

A Many-Layered Record: A Review of Amy Ching-Yan Lam’s Property Journal

Read Jody Chan's review of Amy Ching-Yan Lam’s "Property Journal” in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · 22d

@yukondawn.bsky.social reviews Zane Koss's Country Music in Issue 70 of The Ex-Puritan: ex-puritan.ca/story-as-ele...

Story as Elegy in Zane Koss’s Country Music

Read Dawn MacDonald's review of Zane Koss's "Country Music" in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · 27d

“I’ve been collecting multiplicities, chucking light into myself to see what catches fire” –from "Everyone is Sleeping", one of Ezra M. Serra's two poems in Issue 70: ex-puritan.ca/everyone-is-...

"Everyone is Sleeping" and "We Fuck"

Read Ezra M. Serra's poems “Everyone is Sleeping” and "We Fuck" in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · 28d

“If there is no friction / the meteor is invisible” –@raoulfernandes.bsky.social, from the poem "Strike Anywhere": ex-puritan.ca/strike-anywh...

Strike Anywhere

Read Raoul Fernandes's poem "Strike Anywhere" in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · 29d

“Notes on contributor: lives with his wife in the traditional territory of white sheets and little apples, explores connection to land through beadwork, writing.” –Sadie McCarney, from "Alterbiographies": ex-puritan.ca/from-alterbi...

from Alterbiographies

Read Sadie McCarney's excerpt "from Alterbiographies” in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Sep 8

“I live in a house of almost / that is not mine.” –Stella Wong, from the poem "Complex conjugates": ex-puritan.ca/complex-conj...

Complex conjugates

Read Stella Wong's poem "Complex conjugates" in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Sep 5

"This pregnancy, this nine-month prevention, teaches me that getting to the heart of anything is drifting there, when all time does is mimic itself and there is always something you are after." –Alexandra McKay, "Water Bird" ex-puritan.ca/water-bird

Read Alexandra McKay's essay "Water Bird" in Issue 70: Winter 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Sep 5

"In late February, I was heading towards Museum Station when I noticed that someone had spray painted an 'r' over the 'Welcome to Queen's Park' sign to read 'Welcome to Queer's Park.'

Huh, I thought. Someone said the quiet part out loud."–Vivian Zhi, from "Queer's Park": ex-puritan.ca/queers-park

Read Vivian Zhi's essay "Queer's Park" in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Aug 29

In Issue 70 of The Ex-Puritan, Katherine Abbass interviews Elise Levine about her newest collection, Big of You: ex-puritan.ca/a-not-so-sec...

"A Not-So-Secret Handshake": A Conversation with Elise Levine

Read Katherine Abbass's interview with Elise Levine in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

Reposted by The Ex-Puritan

Rob Taylor @roblucastaylor.bsky.social · Aug 25

🚨New Raoul Fernandes Poem Alert! New Raoul Fernandes Poem Alert! This is not a drill! Report to your reading stations immediately! New Raoul Fernandes Poem Alert!🚨

@raoulfernandes.bsky.social @ex-puritan.bsky.social

ex-puritan.ca/strike-anywh...

Strike Anywhere

Read Raoul Fernandes's poem "Strike Anywhere" in Issue 70: Summer 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Aug 25

The 2025 Austin Clarke Prize is open for submissions! This year's prize will be judged by Iryn Tushabe (fiction) & Faith Arkorful (poetry). To learn more & submit your work: ex-puritan.ca/news/the-202...

The photo is an announcement for The Ex-Puritan's 2025 Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence. The submission deadline is October 24, 2025. First prize: $1000, runner-up: $200. On the left is a photo of poetry judge Faith Arkorful against a purple background. On the right is a photo of fiction judge Iryn Tushabe against a blurred background.

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Aug 25

Announcing our Summer 2025 issue! These works pair well with a hammock, a patio, or the comfort of your air conditioning. Watch this space for contributor features to come, but the full issue is live & ready for your enjoyment: ex-puritan.ca/issue-70-sum...

The image announces publication of The Ex-Puritan's 70th issue, Summer 2025.

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Aug 6

“As genocide is perpetrated in Palestine, as climate disaster and late-stage capitalism escalate, as fascist movements gain power, the poems question what it could look like to build a world worth living in.” -Amanda Proctor reviews Natalie Lim's Elegy for Opportunity: ex-puritan.ca/im-not-leavi...

“I’m not leaving / without you”: Forging Joy in Natalie Lim’s Elegy for Opportunity

Read Amanda Proctor's review "'I’m not leaving / without you': Forging Joy in Natalie Lim’s Elegy for Opportunity" in Issue 69: Spring 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize…

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Aug 4

“i wish i could have this forever / you can – he whispers. knowing every dream has it’s patron” –Cassandra Myers, "Waterstrider's Honeymoon Cruise" in Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/waterstrider...

Waterstrider’s Honeymoon Cruise

Read Cassandra Myers' poem "Waterstrider’s Honeymoon Cruise” in Issue 69: Spring 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Aug 1

"With this commitment to normalcy in mind I have continued to go on dates with people who I meet on the apps, the men and women whom the supposedly-complex-but-ultimately-middling algorithms present me as suitable matches." -Nour Abi-Nakhoul, from "Marmot": ex-puritan.ca/marmot

Read Nour Abi-Nakhoul's short story "Marmot" in Issue 69: Spring 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Jul 30

“I learn about my father by reading the obituary, the one hosted on the website for a funeral home in Thunder Bay. His passing creates what I’ve always wanted to uncover: a record. A bit of marrow left inside the bone.” -Brit Gillman, from "Before We Begin": ex-puritan.ca/before-we-be...

Before We Begin

Read Britt Gilman's essay "Before We Begin," in Issue 69: Spring 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Jul 28

"Historical fiction is not about faithfully transcribing facts from the past so much as it is about relating themes from the past that are still relevant to the world today." -Zilla Jones, in conversation with Tamara Jong. Read now in The Ex-Puritan Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/wrestling-wi...

“Wrestling with Questions of Identity and Belonging”: A Conversation with Zilla Jones

Read Tamara Jong's interview “'Wrestling with Questions of Identity and Belonging': A Conversation with Zilla Jones" in Issue 69: Spring 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize…

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Jul 25

"as if everything else were an origin story / as if the sun ate up each dawn" begins Ernest Ohia's poem "plot in which you lived..." from Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/plot-in-whic...

plot in which you lived …

Read Ernest Ohia's poem "plot in which you lived … " in Issue 69: Spring 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Jul 23

@MiriamRicher.bsky.social reviews Dead Writers, a new fiction project from Jean Marc Ah-Sen, Michael LaPointe, Cassidy McFadzean, and Naben Ruthnum, which Richer calls "a series of literary case studies in the lies we tell ourselves in order to go on living": ex-puritan.ca/dark-entries...

Dark Entries: A Review of Dead Writers

Read Miriam Richer's "Dark Entries: A Review of Dead Writers” in Issue 69: Spring 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Jul 21

"Wandering to a Roman shield, Matthew chews over one of his favourite ideas: that throughout history, everyone on both sides thought they were the good guy." –Glenn Clifton, "What You Are Looking For Is What Is Looking", in Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/what-you-are...

What You Are Looking For Is What Is Looking

Read Glenn Clifton's short story "What You Are Looking For Is What Is Looking” in Issue 69: Spring 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

The Ex-Puritan @ex-puritan.bsky.social · Jul 18

"Doctor pries off the skull cap. Reaches / into the cavity, cradling the cleaved / cerebrum. Can he feel the weight / of its memories?" –Sally O'Keeffe, "The Provincial Lunatic Asylum (1850s)", from Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/the-provinci...

"The Provincial Lunatic Asylum (1850s)" and "Walls (1860s)"

Read Sally O'Keeffe's poems "The Provincial Lunatic Asylum (1850s)" and "Walls (1860s)" in Issue 69: Spring 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!