Issue 5.3
Deep Down Inside: Parasitism and Symbiosis
You’re an ant. “I’m not an ant!” Just . . . play along for a minute, all right? You’re an ant, a Lasius umbratus worker,
Premee Mohamed
March 3, 2026
Stories are available on publication to subscribers, and will be released for free on our website and podcast in the following quarter.
Letter from the Editors
Zhui Ning Chang, Kanika Agrawal, Isabella Kestermann, and Danai Christopoulou
Coming soon: excerpt of Liar, Dreamer, Thief and an interview with its author, Maria Dong!
Interview with Naseem Jamnia
Questions by Aleksandra Hill
Excerpt: The Bruising of Qilwa
Out from Tachyon Publications
Banquet for All!
jesutomisin ipinmoye
Letters from Light’s End
Phoenix Alexander
The Tale of Afonso
Dea Anugrah
Translated by Annie Tucker
In My Time of Dreaming
Megan Chee
This Kingdom, Your Ficus; Its Belly, Your Fig
Lowry Poletti
Deep Down Inside: Parasitism and Symbiosis Premee Mohamed
Cover: Gift of the Pari
Niky Motekallem
You’re an ant. “I’m not an ant!” Just . . . play along for a minute, all right? You’re an ant, a Lasius umbratus worker,
The smoker will run out of cigarettes today. She first appeared on the news on my sixteenth birthday, about a week ago—her and her pile
The reabsorption began on a Thursday. Channel 9 News reported that two young Korean girls touched palms at recess and that their flesh melted and
Overhead, the mycelium network lights up in waves of twinkling blue, coursing along the roots of our camouflage trees as I pound belowdecks, trying not
Everything I drank tasted fine, but it seemed sometimes that water flowed a bit too slowly from the bottle, swished a bit too heavily in
Rodrigo’s new car has new leather seats. Adam can smell the leather: real, cured animal skins, imported via climate-controlled freight from Earth-1. He is aware,
About the Art: I wanted to convey a sense of wonder, awe, and whimsy with these two organic beings who are different but similar coming