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The Cleanse

Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi

‘There is foam on the sea of our blood. It is the foam of history. We are the survivors, we say.’

The Neighborhood

Kelly Magee

‘Can bad mothers be taught to be good? Or maybe, can we be incentivized to bond? To love?’

The Transition

Luke Kennard

In the not-so-distant future, middle-class underachievers are faced with a difficult choice: prison or motivational business classes.

Vladimir in Love

Lara Vapnyar

‘He regretted not buying the flowers.’

My Angel

Adam Thorpe

‘I am full of unreal desires and worthless imaginings.’

Her Boy

Mika Taylor

‘She is the first dolphin mother, Peter her boy genius.’

First Semester

Rachel B. Glaser & John Maradik

‘When she reached her hand into his underwear, again she felt the turtle.’

Wendy

Ka Bradley

‘Nathan: there’s something in the basement. In the locked rooms I was telling you about.’

What’s Not There Can’t Hurt You

Sara Taylor

‘A shadow gained body and grew, looming over the bed, and he caught the impression of long teeth and many limbs, smelled something claylike and vegetal.’

While the Nightjar Sleeps

Andrew Michael Hurley

‘But while the nightjar sleeps,’ said the mole, ‘it dreams of what it used to be and still sees beyond what isn’t true. And so can we, if we choose to look.’

Our Last Guest

Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

‘Maybe anyone becomes unbearable after enough time in the honeymoon suite.’ Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s story of eternity á deux.

Witchcraft Today

Diane Williams

‘Two women appeared embracing two of a kind – that is each woman held onto a globular lamp base that had luster.’

The Beauty and the Bat

Diane Williams

‘I knew who she was well enough, by then – a competent woman in earnest who didn’t like me.’

Swimming Underwater

Merethe Lindstrøm

‘When I picture my childhood, it’s like I’m swimming underwater.’ Merethe Lindstrøm’s story is translated from the Norwegian by Marta Eidsvåg, and is the winner of Harvill Secker’s Young Translators’ Prize 2016.