New Fiction
Backcountry Devils by Jennifer Christie
Jennifer Christie is a recent graduate of the MFA program at Oregon State University. Her master’s thesis (a short story collection titled The Four-Chambered Heart) won the 2013 OSU Outstanding Thesis Award, and in 2012 her short story “The Festival” won the Salem College International Literary Awards’ Reynolds Price Fiction Award, judged by Kate Bernheimer. She currently lives in Corvallis, OR where she teaches, tutors, and writes.
Any Idiot Can Feel Pain by Matt Cashion
Matt Cashion won the 2015 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in fiction for his story collection Last Words of the Holy Ghost (judged by Lee K. Abbott), to be published fall, 2015 (UNT Press). He is also the author of a novel, How the Sun Shines on Noise, and his second novel, Our 13th Divorce, will be published spring, 2016 (Livingston). Born in North Wilkesboro, NC, he grew up in Brunswick, GA, earned an MFA at the University of Oregon and is now Associate Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (mattcashion.com).
The Rut by Cody Bowie
Cody Bowie is a graduate of the MFA program at Oregon State University. She currently lives in Texas with her boyfriend and their ficus. This is her first publication.
A Guy Walks into a Bar by Kristen Arnett
Kristen Arnett is a fiction and essay writer who has held fellowships at Tin House, Kenyon Review, and Lambda Literary Foundation. She was awarded Ninth Letter’s 2015 Literary Award in Fiction and was named an honorable mention for Glimmer Train’s Short Story Award for New Writers. Her work has either appeared or is upcoming at North American Review, The Normal School, The Greensboro Review, Tin House Flash Fridays/The Guardian, Salon, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. You can find her on Twitter @Kristen_Arnett
Breakfast
Jennifer Savran Kelly works as managing editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art and binds books in Ithaca, New York. Her fiction recently appeared in Stone Canoe, and her film Invisible Ink, co-written with Christopher Julian, was released by Vanguard Cinema in 2012. She is currently working on her first novel with generous support from the Writer to Writer Mentorship Program hosted by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.
Fusion
Laura Wang is a writer and educator in New York City public schools, where she teaches human beings about molecules.
GRIST FICTION
Automat
Sarah Marie Kosch recently earned her MFA in fiction from Oregon State University. Originally from the Midwest, she now lives in Corvallis. She is a former fiction editor of OSU’s new lit mag 45th Parallel and is involved with Anomalous Press. Other stories of hers can be found in Rappahannock Review, Gemini Magazine, Knee-Jerk Magazine, Print-Oriented Bastards, The Quotable, and Blinders Journal.
There Are Such Unfortunates
Sean Ennis is the author of the short story collection Chase Us (New Harvest), and teaches writing and literature at the University of Mississippi. More of his work can be found at seanennis.net.
Twenty-One Beginnings for the Same Short Story
Eric Dovigi lives in Flagstaff, Arizona. His work can be found at: Hobart, Westwind Journal, Sourland Mountain Review, Blue Planet Journal, and elsewhere.
The Perfect Crime by Hisham Bustani
Hisham Bustani is a Jordanian award-winning author of four collections of short fiction. His fiction has been translated into five languages, with English-language translations appearing in journals across the U.S., U.K., and Canada, including World Literature Today, Los Angeles Review of Books and The Literary Review. In 2009, he was chosen by the German review Inamo as one of the Arab world’s emerging and influential new writers. In 2013, the UK-based cultural webzine The Culture Trip listed him as one of Jordan’s top six contemporary writers. His book The Perception of Meaning won the 2014 University of Arkansas Arabic Translation Award, and was published in 2015 by Syracuse University Press. One of Hisham’s stories was recently chosen to be featured in the inaugural edition of The Best Asian Short Stories anthology, forthcoming in 2017.
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Grist is publishes a print publication annually featuring work of high literary quality from both emerging and established writers. Welcoming all styles and aesthetic approaches, Grist is committed to diversity, inclusivity, cultural interchange, and respect for all individuals who are part of the literary community.