Dear readers,
Welcome to the second issue of khōréō Volume 6!
The last months have been relatively quiet at team khōréō—we took a break from submissions, so activity has been low outside of the steady work of preparing this issue for publication. As summer approaches, we’re swinging back into the thick of things: general submissions for short fiction, flash, and translation will reopen in July and we look forward to reading new work then.
In these pages, we bring you six stories on memory, death, and the devouring nature of capitalism. You’ll visit an enigmatic queer bar in search of connection in “Godweapon” by Kel Coleman; find a protagonist who kills billionaires to fund her mother’s healthcare in “So You Want to Make a Killing” by Boon Carmen; share in a couple’s private doom while war rages across the border in “Tender and Sweet” by Lisobel Tang; stumble across a mysterious lunar incident amid familial grief in “Museum of the Other Moon” by A. Artemis Chen; follow gossipy village women as they observe a local woman cursed to have a pirarucu’s aquatic child in “A River Begins or Ends” by Fernanda Coutinho Teixeira; and collect planetary detritus while wrestling with mother-daughter relationships in “The Post-History of a Planet” by Samantha H. Chung.
In other news, we are overjoyed to be finalists again for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine and the Locus Award for Best Magazine. In these precarious times, recognition and support from readers and industry colleagues are invaluable in keeping a small magazine afloat. Truly, it means a lot that the excellent work of our contributors and team are recognized and celebrated. Thank you to everyone who read and nominated our work!
Lastly, our Kickstarter to fund the next year of the magazine is still underway. We would be grateful if you are able to donate. If not, if you might spread the word about our campaign to your networks. Your generosity and support are the bedrock on which we sustain our work, and we can’t wait to share the rest of the wonderful stories forthcoming this year.
With love,
Zhui Ning Chang, Kanika Agrawal, Isabella Kestermann, Danai Christopoulou
Editorial Team