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Micro-interview with Naomi Simone Borwein

The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 9d

#microinterview We’re joined by @nsborwein.bsky.social, author of the wonderful poem “The Void 𝘐𝘴 in a Playful Mood Tonight” in The Future Fire #74, to talk about alienation, transmateriality, and writing. press.futurefire.net/2025/09/micr...

We’re joined by Naomi Simone Borwein, author of the wonderful poem “ The Void Is in a Playful Mood Tonight ” in The Future Fire #74, to ta...

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Reposted by The Future Fire

The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

If you'd like to comment on, review, give feedback or say anything else about any of the stories, poems and art in this issue, please do so in the comment thread under the blog post at: press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-...

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by hum...

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

If you'd like to comment on, review, give feedback or say anything else about any of the stories, poems and art in this issue, please do so in the comment thread under the blog post at: press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-...

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by hum...

Unblooded Gospel, Justin Taroli

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

And I know it's at the top of this thread, but I just wanted to point out THAT COVER ART! by Barbara Candiotti.

Magazine cover. Header reads "THE FUTURE FIRE Social Political & Speculative Cyberfiction" on a forest green background with multilingual alphabets superimposed over it. Banner: "Issue 2025.74. ISSN: 1746-1839". Main image, a long-coated figure looking out over a stormy seascape in stark shades of teal and charcoal. Footer text: "Art by Barbara Candiotti"

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

There’s a guy at the bar with lips like wet marble and a credit score you can feel in your spine. He orders vodka neat. Who drinks vodka neat? People who don’t need mixers, or feelings, or food. People who glide.

#speculativefiction #freeScifi

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

Justin Taroli gives us “Unblooded Gospel,” a razor sharp, queer, punk, urban apocalypse, with art by the splendid @toeken.bsky.social.

futurefire.net/2025.74/fict...

There’s a guy at the bar with lips like wet marble and a credit score you can feel in your spine. He orders vodka neat. Who drinks vodka neat? People who don’t need mixers, or feelings, or food. Peopl...

Limue’s Alphabet, Eleanor Glewwe

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

In the dappled shade of a stand of bamboo, an old woman takes a stick and scratches two curved lines in the dusty yellow earth.

“Pai is for pera
Limue’s plucked eye”

#speculativefiction #sociolinguistics #FreeScifi

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

A super-smart novelette about poetry and divinity and language in the face of cultural contact: “Limue’s Alphabet” by Eleanor Glewwe (@eleanorglewwe.bsky.social) with art by the fabulous Barbara Candiotti. futurefire.net/2025.74/fict...

In the dappled shade of a stand of bamboo, an old woman takes a stick and scratches two curved lines in the dusty yellow earth.

The Better Ends, V. Zixin

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

We were both teenagers at the time. Or near enough, anyway. Neither of us knew when our birthdays really were. Children didn’t seem to be born in Shenzhen. They materialized around alleyways and market stalls before being adopted by the proper enclaves.

#speculativefiction #freeScifi #novelette

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

“The Better Ends,” a speculative, postcolonial coming-of-age by V. Zixin, with art by the brilliant Carmen Moran @floopy-b.bsky.social

futurefire.net/2025.74/fict...

I felt you.

Seven Stories for Now and Later, Nancy S. Koven

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

A thickset bird shuffles along the railing of the viewing platform, catches me looking across the river at its home, then turns to face the same way. We become an old married couple, exchanging sighs and idly scratching away the afternoon’s humidity.

#speculativefiction #ecoSF

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

Nancy S. Koven’s “Seven Stories for Now and Later,” also eco-fiction, family history, funny and moving. Art is by John Gould and H.C. Richter.

futurefire.net/2025.74/fict...

The Sons of Victor Levitak, Rowley Amato

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

Victor Levitak was not well-loved by the other residents of the Coop, but we sat a feeble shiva for him anyway. We gathered in the lobby, draping old blankets and shawls over the mirrors and windows and reflective surfaces.

#scifi #horror

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

Rowley Amato offers the dark but hopeful, gorgeously voiced “The Sons of Victor Levitak.” The always superb @toeken.bsky.social provides art. #freeScifi #speculativefiction

futurefire.net/2025.74/fict...

Victor Levitak was not well-loved by the other residents of the Coop, but we sat a feeble shiva for him anyway.

The morning after I dreamed about Hannah’s mermaid, three dead seagulls washed up on the shoreline. I took note of each one, their bent bodies limp on the sand, then lifted them by their feet, feather...

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

The morning after I dreamed about Hannah’s mermaid, three dead seagulls washed up on the shoreline. I took note of each one, their bent bodies limp on the sand, then lifted them by their feet, feathers dripping, to take into the lab. An omen, I might have called it once.

#speculativefiction #ecoSF

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

Also: the moody eco-parable "Sentinel" by @laurenferebee.bsky.social, with accompanying art by the amazing Barbara Candiotti.

futurefire.net/2025.74/fict...

Sentinel, Lauren Ferebee

The Void Is in a Playful Mood Tonight, Naomi Simone Borwein

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

This is your fault, witch.
It had a voice like rusty chains.
And cracking joints.

#SFpoetry

futurefire.net/2025.74/fict...

This is your fault, witch.

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

A wonderfully evocative poem "The Void Is in a Playful Mood Tonight" by @nsborwein.bsky.social (keep scrolling for the perfectly moody art by @floopy-b.bsky.social). #SFpoetry #ScifiArt

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24d

In no particular order, this issue contains…

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Reposted by The Future Fire

The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 25d

New issue: 2025.74
Fiction and art by Barbara Candiotti, Carmen Moran, Eleanor Glewwe, Justin Taroli, Leuren Ferebee, Nancy S. Koven, Naomi Simone Borwein, Rowley Amato, Toeken & V. Zixin.
press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-...

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by hum...

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 25d

New issue: 2025.74
Fiction and art by Barbara Candiotti, Carmen Moran, Eleanor Glewwe, Justin Taroli, Leuren Ferebee, Nancy S. Koven, Naomi Simone Borwein, Rowley Amato, Toeken & V. Zixin.
press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-...

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by hum...