iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

I have a new story today called "Mama G's" at @thesunlightpress.bsky.social. It's a little under 1,000 words, I'd love for you to read it!

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Truly, truly thrilled to be in the latest issue of @prairie-schooner.bsky.social. Volume 100, Number 1 is available to order, and if you'd like a sneak peek, you can find my story here! prairieschooner.unl.edu/excerpt/the-...

prairieschooner.unl.edu

The Long Save - Prairie Schooner

Sometimes I tell it this way: my father saved a man’s life once. He didn’t ask for anything in return. He simply saw the man was choking and ran inside to

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Prairie Schooner @prairie-schooner.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

The Loneliness Issue is here! Our Spring 2026 issue is now shipping. See the full table of contents, read excerpts from the issue, and order your own copy here: prairieschooner.unl.edu/issue/spring...

New Issue

Cover of the Lonelines issue of Prairie Schooner, featuring an image of two people sitting on a bench in front of a painting of a couple in a room (Edward Hopper's Room in New York)

Contributors
Spring 2026
Volume 100 Number 1

Kurt Andersen
Daniel Barnum
David Hernandez
Ross White
Andrew Garvin
Olufunke Ogundimu
Teo Rivera-Dundas
Christtie Jay
L. A. Johnson
Scott Cairns
Alex Tretbar
Robert Brian Mulder
Jeremy Tavares
Warren Woessner
Alexandra Malouf
Tara Mesalik MacMahon
Judith Vollmer
Matt Barrett
Terese Svoboda
Jeannine Hall Gailey
Adam O. Davis
Kelan Nee
Daniel Hales
Milena Nigam
Elizabeth Crane
Edwardson Ukata
Winniebell Xinyu Zong
Bryan Obinna Okwesili
Brad Aaron Modlin
Chisom Okafor
Cynthia Sylvester
Saddiq Dzukogi
Yosra Bouslama
Ervin Krause
Rose McLarney
Jamila Osman
Ciara Altaro
Aimee Nezhukumatathil

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LM “Gory” Fontanes 👻 @lorifontanes.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

if you’ve ever had a baby or an elderly pet or both or just want to read a story of love & inevitable endings next to impossible beginnings, this story by @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social is for you 🥹👇

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Pithead Chapel @pitheadchapel.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

our new issue! pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is... SERGE LECOMTE MEGHAN PROULX MATT BARRETT @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social JENNA CROWDER ERIK KLASS TRACIE ADAMS @tracieadams.bsky.social SHERI VENEMA @sheriven.bsky.social HANNAH AHN RUSSELL BRAKEFIELD @russellbrakefield.bsky.social CHOISELLE JOSEPH

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Brett Pribble @brettpribble.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Read "The Great Frontier" written by @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr. "By morning, we dug ourselves a trench. And hung photos in the dirt, old posters from our bedrooms, framed within the mud. We paced the few feet back and forth, crouching so..." tinyurl.com/4j8n5arn

tinyurl.com

The Great Frontier — Ghost Parachute

By morning, we dug ourselves a trench. And hung photos in the dirt, old posters from our bedrooms, framed within the mud. We paced the few feet back and forth, crouching so no one could see our bobbin...

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Matt Kendrick @mattkendrick.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

"In the creek, we scoured for crayfish, sucked the meat straight from their tails. We buried their skeletons to solidify the floor. One of us said we were pioneers, the other said we were just playing" @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social writing brilliant things as usual: ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...

ghostparachute.com

The Great Frontier — Ghost Parachute

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Dog in the sun reading my latest story in The Sun Magazine. Deeply grateful to the editors for including another story of mine in one of the greatest publications on earth ❤️❤️ www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/602...

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James Montgomery @jamesmontgomery.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

‘…she’d just hung there with her hair sweeping the woodchips and eyes shut tight like she was sleeping.’ What a central image to this fantastic flash from @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social 🦇 fracturedlit.com/first-they-f...

fracturedlit.com

First, They Fall | Fractured

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

I have a micro in @fracturedlit.bsky.social today! Thank you so much to the editors for picking up "First, They Fall": fracturedlit.com/first-they-f...

fracturedlit.com

First, They Fall | Fractured

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Keith Pilapil Lesmeister @keithlesmeister.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

new issue of Cutleaf! Featuring short fiction by @ladiwoods.bsky.social, nonfiction from @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social, and poetry courtesy of @taylorfthiel.bsky.social cutleafjournal.com/issue/5-19

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Grateful to Cutleaf Journal for publishing my essay, "The Reunion," today! It was inspired by walks with my son on the Gettysburg battlefield and the impossible task of teaching a 5 year old about good and bad. cutleafjournal.com/content/the-...

cutleafjournal.com

The Reunion - Cutleaf Journal

Our five-year-old son asks us for forgiveness. He apologizes for what he did this morning. He hangs his head and paces before our TV, even with his favorite

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Frances Gapper @francesgapper.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

This is a wonderful story.

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

The August issue of @thesunmagazine.bsky.social features one of my stories which I have been so excited to share for months! Grateful to Finn Cohen and all of the editors for helping me get this piece ready for publication. I'd be honored if you checked it out! www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/sea...

thesunmagazine.org

The Seafood Stand

Once, my father drove from New Jersey to California by siphoning gas from strangers’ cars, then sent his van off the Pacific Coast Highway by laying a brick on the accelerator. His mother almost died ...

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Flash Frog @flashfrog.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Huge thank you to our Blue Frog Guest Artist @jiksuncheung.bsky.social !! Each of these three pieces is absolutely stunning! 🙏🏼💙

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UNCG Creative Writing @mfagreensboro.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Gulls of the Algarve - #fiction by UNCG Creative Writing alum Matt Barrett at Flash Frog buff.ly/TkIVd0t #UNCGAlumni #UNCGEnglish #UNCG #UNCGWay #FindYourWayHere @mfagreensboro.bsky.social

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Only it didn’t have a broken wing, it was just too tired to fly, which happens sometimes, even to gulls who otherwise look okay, even when nothing seems wrong with their wings at all. Quiet, beautiful story of compassion 💙 @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social @flashfrog.bsky.social

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Jiksun Cheung @jiksuncheung.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

A absolutely stunning, bittersweet piece by @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @flashfrog.bsky.social. Go read it now! So honored to contribute a watercolor to this story 🙏 The original painting will be on the way to you soon, Matt!

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Jenny Wong @jenwithwords.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

“which had been a goal of ours for years, to run so fast we actually caught one, only to realize we’d never get this close if things were actually right.” This one. A must-read. Congratulations to @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social for winning 3rd place in @flashfrog.bsky.social!

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Dan Crawley @danbillyc.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

"So much of life is about waiting, I think, for what you know will happen next." My lord. This story! I love, love, love this story by @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social (Congrats, Matt!) in @flashfrog.bsky.social 💙💙💙

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Eric Scot Tryon @ericscottryon.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Huge congrats, Matt! Such a beautiful story!

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

My story, "Gulls of the Algarve," is live! Thank you so much to @flashfrog.bsky.social, @ericscottryon.bsky.social, Gina Chung, and @jiksuncheung.bsky.social for helping make this piece special to me.

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Flash Frog @flashfrog.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

🚨EXCITING NEWS! The BLUE FROG 3rd place winner — “Gulls of the Algarve” by @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social — will publish tomorrow!! 👀

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Always an honor to have a story in The Forge -- some of the nicest people around! And thank you to Fiona McPhillips for helping me edit this piece and for the great interview questions!

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Truly grateful to be on this list, and I can't wait to read the other stories!

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Kyle Isamu Weik @kyleisamu.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

First post on here and it’s a big one! Thank you @flashfrog.bsky.social and Gina Chung for this honor. Big congrats to Alison Morretta and @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social too! I can’t wait to read all the stories 💙🐸

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Excited to be on the list! Can't wait to read the winning stories!

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

I've been submitting to West Branch since 2012, so it is a true thrill to be included in the latest issue. I had to read the acceptance email about six times before I believed it. Thank you so much to the wonderful editors!

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Matt Barrett @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

So very happy to have a story up at Wigleaf -- thank you to Scott and the whole team!

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Brandon Haffner @thebrandonhaff.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Good stuff from the excellent @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social, he doesn't miss

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Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

“We’re at our best when we’re disruptors.” Barbara Kingsolver on artists, accepting the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

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