CONTENTS:

Prose –

YARD DOG // Tade Thompson

The first few times Yard Dog shows up at Saucy Sue’s seedy spot for gangsters and jazz hopefuls, he’s just a shadow that makes everyone suspicious. Then, Yard Dog blows his trumpet…and everything changes.

TEDDY BUMP // Sheree Renee Thomas

What happens to missing Black girls? Where do they go when their childhood abruptly ends? And who remembers them when the world seems to forget?  In this story we find one possible afterlife for them, and it ain’t nowhere good…

AND SONGS DON’T END // Osahon Ize-Iyamu

Momma’s perfect songs are the only thing holding a family curse at bay. But when Momma falls silent, it’s time for something to change.

THE PERCIVALS: THE BENNETT BENEFIT // Eboni J. Dunbar

In this story of music and high manners, two women take on darkness in the English countryside.

SISTER ROSETTA THARPE AND MEMPHIS MINNIE SING THE STUMPS DOWN GOOD // LaShawn M. Wanak

Both Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie are stump exterminators for Stump Prevention Control, using their voices to destroy humanoid stumps before they explode. But when Rosetta and Minnie discover that Stump Prevention Control is hiding deadly secrets from the people they are sworn to protect, will their friendship, faith, and musical skill be enough for them to survive the fallout?

Poetry –

ELLA HOUR // Uche Ogbuji

I SING THE LADY ELETRIC / Latonya Pennington

night chimes // Lisa Allen-Agostini