Fiction – Michigan Quarterly Review

Fiction

Ideal Customers

Published in Issue 63.3: Summer 2024 The shoe was too big; it usually was. The customers at Manson’s Menswear were often still acquainting themselves with the quirks of men’s sizing, and they tended to overestimate, trying to will their feet into a more expansive existence. The guy Gemma was serving—short, red-haired, with the same cringing […]

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Published in Issue 63.3: Summer 2024 The shoe was too big; it usually was. The customers at Manson’s Menswear were often still acquainting themselves with the quirks of men’s sizing, and they tended to overestimate, trying to will their feet into a more expansive existence. The guy Gemma was serving—short, red-haired, with the same cringing

The Diaspora Café

Published in Issue 63.3: Summer 2024 Vince Omni is the 2024 winner of MQR‘s Jesmyn Ward Prize in Fiction for the piece “The Diaspora Café” which is published in the Summer 2024 issue of MQR. The Michigan Quarterly Review established this prize in 2021 in honor of Helen Zell Writers’ Program alumna Jesmyn Ward, who served as

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Published in Issue 63.3: Summer 2024 Vince Omni is the 2024 winner of MQR‘s Jesmyn Ward Prize in Fiction for the piece “The Diaspora Café” which is published in the Summer 2024 issue of MQR. The Michigan Quarterly Review established this prize in 2021 in honor of Helen Zell Writers’ Program alumna Jesmyn Ward, who served as

from The Book of Kings

Published in Spring 2024 Online Folio The following is an excerpt from The Book of Kings, a novel by Mahtem Shiferraw MAKEDA AXUM, 1370 B.C. The soldiers showed up unannounced, at the break of the night. They lurked quietly, shadows only at first, then lumps and lumps of them – their armors shimmering in the

from The Book of Kings Read More »

Published in Spring 2024 Online Folio The following is an excerpt from The Book of Kings, a novel by Mahtem Shiferraw MAKEDA AXUM, 1370 B.C. The soldiers showed up unannounced, at the break of the night. They lurked quietly, shadows only at first, then lumps and lumps of them – their armors shimmering in the

Too Late to Die Young

Published in Spring 2024 Online Folio The most inconvenient thing a lover can do is die. Ndumiso looks at his husband Lifa sitting next to him in the doctor’s office; their hands are clasped and clammy, swinging between them. Dr. Dlamini promised to return shortly, but that was two hours ago. The doctor’s lengthened absence

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Published in Spring 2024 Online Folio The most inconvenient thing a lover can do is die. Ndumiso looks at his husband Lifa sitting next to him in the doctor’s office; their hands are clasped and clammy, swinging between them. Dr. Dlamini promised to return shortly, but that was two hours ago. The doctor’s lengthened absence

In Plain Sight

Published in Spring 2024 Online Folio It began as a simple ruse: the lie that Jean didn’t understand a word of Kirundi. He wanted to be alone with his marbles, and so had left the sparsely decorated hall, with the soup-and-beer-stained white sheets placed on the formica tables, and clusters of red balloons arranged along

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Published in Spring 2024 Online Folio It began as a simple ruse: the lie that Jean didn’t understand a word of Kirundi. He wanted to be alone with his marbles, and so had left the sparsely decorated hall, with the soup-and-beer-stained white sheets placed on the formica tables, and clusters of red balloons arranged along

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