Invitation to submit to the Berkeley Fiction Review

Write short fiction? Looking to get published? Submit to the Berkeley Fiction Review!

The Berkeley Fiction Review is a UC Berkeley undergraduate, student-run publication. We publish both new and established writers in a wide variety of genres. We look for innovative short fiction that plays with form and content, as well as traditionally constructed stories with fresh voices and original ideas. Submissions of previously unpublished work are welcome year-round and published annually.

Submission Guidelines:

– 8,000 words or less (nothing over 25 pages)
– Typed, 12 point font, double-spaced
– Cover letter should include address, email, title of story, and author bio
– Must note if story is simultaneously submitted
– Electronic submissions only to berkeleyfictionreview@gmail.comWe also hold a Sudden Fiction Contest annually (deadline April 1st every year) with a $200 1st place prize; 2nd and 3rd place are published. Additionally, we nominate to O. Henry, Best American Short Stories, and Pushcart prizes

If there are any other questions or concerns, you should check out our website at http://bfictionreview.wordpress.com/.

Synchronized Chaos November 2014: Union and Cohesion

November is a fall month for many of us, a time when those in the United States come together to celebrate and show gratitude for the blessings of the past year. This month’s submissions form a Thanksgiving potluck, as they, like the various dishes of the shared meal, each illustrate aspects of unity, how different people or things come together to form a whole.

In Jason Ascerno’s poem “My Skateboard” the narrator looks at his broken skateboard and misses the joy of riding it. He’s developed a relationship with the vehicle where it’s not just a tool, but part of his life and who he is. Neila Mezynksi’s piece “Both” illustrates the beauty of a close bond between two people in her short piece about an intertwined couple.

Christine Murphy’s piece “molten blue and amethyst” is a reflection on loss, and healing as acute grief becomes longing. Like the sea nymphs she speaks of, our pain fades away along the axis of time, and we emerge from our mourning to re-enter normal life.

Loretta Siegel’s poem “This I Believe” affirms the value of life and everyday beauty, of simple pleasures and basic goodness. Things that might seem inconsequential, including each of our lives, have meaning and worth, and by appreciating them we can form a healthier society. In his essay ‘Pride & Joy,’ Tony Longshanks LeTigre relates his experience celebrating pride, community, meaningful activism and family and connection at the San Francisco Pride Parade.

Deborah Guzzi’s gentle, reflective poetry collection references Western and ancient Egyptian spirituality and then moves to vignettes set in modern society, suggesting a broader, more timeless context to our world. In a similar vein, Andrea DeAngelis brings the language of cosmology to the world of human relationships and personal identity. Her speakers feel lost and mediocre as they confront the ‘dark matter’ of their psyches during times of loneliness.

Ryan Hodge illustrates the confusion created by the loss of a cohesive identity in his Play/Write column. Some video games have heightened the narrative tension within their storylines by killing off the supposed protagonist or having players discover near the end that the character with whom they identified was confused about some fundamental aspect of the game’s world. Although interesting during entertainment, this experience would likely represent a terribly alienating experience in real life. So we can work towards becoming the protagonists of our own lives, staying present and making conscious choices as best as we can even while we learn and grow.

Roy Huff talks about personal growth and maturation in his poem “Roots,” and his narrator embraces his destiny and becomes strong enough to provide shelter to others. Elizabeth Hughes’ Book Periscope column presents various novels and a memoir (Derrick Randall’s A Soldier’s Thoughts, Zoe Zorka’s Turn Our Eyes Away, Jordan Acker’s The Shadows, Patty Lesser’s Locker Rooms, Louis Villalobos’ The Stranger’s Enigma, and Andrea Carr’s Family Tree The Novel: Family Tree) that look into how our personal pasts and family heritage can influence who we become. Our lives aren’t isolated incidents. What sort of society we have today, and what our young people experience, strongly affects what sort of world we’ll have in the future. In Huff’s metaphor, the roots we grow today bring about the leaves and fruit of tomorrow.

Joe Klingler’s novel Mash Up, reviewed here by Bruce Roberts, explores the delicate balance between music fans, creators and labels represented by copyright law, as well as the partnership between an older detective and a younger police officer. Roberts, while intrigued by each of the novel’s plot threads and the questions they raise, suggests that the complex story could have been strengthened by tighter connections among the story lines.

Ayokunle Adeleye discusses the need for and possibility of integrating people living with disabilities into normal society within his home country of Nigeria. His next piece criticizes megachurches which have selfish values and don’t build community the way these institutions could.

Christopher Bernard’s piece “The Choice” asks what sorts of tradeoffs are inevitable for different societies. Does modernization and the increased material wealth it brings have to involve greed, materialism and environmental destruction? Does harmony with nature require medieval living conditions? Or is there some sort of balance conscious and thoughtful people can strike, integrating sustainable values as we grow and evaluate our ‘deal with the devil?’

We invite you to consider who you are, what you can bring to the table, as you read through this issue of Synchronized Chaos Magazine. And we wish a very happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate this month.

***San Francisco Bay Area folks:

San Francisco's Adobe Books

San Francisco’s Adobe Books

Synchronized Chaos Magazine ‘s next event, ‘Orphan Thinksgiving ‘ will be Thursday November 13th at 6 pm at Adobe Books in SF’s Mission District. Casual potluck where you are encouraged to bring something to share, such as food, writing etc. Or just bring yourself, that’s wonderful too! Please feel free to post here if you’d like to bring something, although showing up with food the day of the event is great also.

Event is free, all welcome, please bring family, friends or interested strangers! And right near the 24th st. BART. Facebook invite page here, RSVP encouraged but not required: https://www.facebook.com/events/293367420850340/ ***

Commercial announcement from our magazine’s partner, software developer Rui Carvalho: 

(E-Books and Apps)

*** If you are a writer or a poet and dream to show your work to the world, then we believe we have the best of opportunities to share with you. 
For a small donation you can have your book presented as an e-book app for Windows Phone or Kindle. 
Details are the following: 
Windows Phone or Kindle with up to 40 poems – (donation 40 USD)
Rui M. Publisher ISBN – (donation 10 USD)
Annual maintenance – (donation 10 USD per year)
Revision of the text – (donation 50 USD)

Part of the funds will go to Rui Carvalho and enable him to continue the work he does creating apps for health and environmental nonprofits, and the rest will go to Synchronized Chaos Magazine.  ***

 

Poetry from Jason Ascerno

My Skateboard

I lay awake wishing to skate

My board is cracked though it seems

Our futures had a diverse fate

Bolts, nuts, and bearings work as a team

 

Rails and ramps so much fun

A rock is simple yet so dangerous

Little did I know our time was done

Always on my mind I’m so anxious

 

Even when you’re far you are so close

Your beauty has no bounds like an art

You’re my parasite and I’m the host

I hate you at times but you won my heart

 

I know no matter what you do

Someway somehow I always come back to you

Poetry from Christopher Bernard

The Choice

By Christopher Bernard

 

 

Man shaking hands with the devil, both in suits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Choice

By Christopher Bernard

The modern world, that devil’s bargain …
—E.M. Cioran

The devil came to a man one day
and told him: “I will grant to you
undreamed of knowledge, wealth and power;
every hope mankind has known
will real become, or seem to be
on the verge of reality
tomorrow or, at the very most,
the next day, marvelously.
You will dominate the earth,
take your first steps toward the stars,
walk on the mountains of the moon,
touch the sands on the plains of Mars,
weigh the ice on Saturn’s moons,
on your fingers wear her rings,
weigh the universe itself
in the scales of your great mind,
measure its length, its breadth, its age,
its time to come, death and old age,
you will be so sage.

You’ll count the smallest elements
that make it up – the quarks, the strings,
the genes, the chromosomes of all things –
and play with them
to make new worlds, new life, new minds –
you’ll learn
the origin of space and time,
the source of life, the cause of thought,
everything that can be known
you, and you alone, will know.

Continue reading

Poetry from Deborah Guzzi

Absolution’s Font

 

Await the zenith of the sun,

across the clay-courtyard beckoning;

barefoot I walked, heartstring undone;

Oh Lord, there’s love, no reckoning.

 

A soundless clarion of tears fall

toward absolution’s bright blessing;

within the domed sabil I call;

Oh Lord, there’s love, no reckoning.

 

The fountain’s dry, but not my eyes,

sounds of grace rebound, soft staying,

Amazing Grace sang such as I;

Oh Lord, there’s love, no reckoning.

 

We are but one beneath the sun

for all our fears and wandering;

all creation our companion;

Oh Lord, there’s love, no reckoning.

 

Let spirit rise on minaret

and phantom penitents come hieing;

all is well, we are God’s get.

Oh Lord, there’s love, no reckoning.

Continue reading

Bruce Roberts’ review of Joe Klingler’s Mash Up

MASH UP: A Review

mashupcover

Joe Klingler’s mystery novel, Mash Up, is a page turner. Anyone who has read Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code knows that it just flows on and on, from one action to another, so that it’s almost impossible to put down.

Mash Up is the same way. Beginning with a small piece of gruesome—a severed finger mailed to a friend of the victim—Mash Up explodes out of the starting blocks into a 600-page dash, where each contestant is a different strand of a convoluted, but exciting, mystery.

The severed finger is the springboard for demented killers, skimpy bikinis, an Eskimo detective, marvelous classical music, shipboard sexpots, wild car chases, Machiavellian computer viruses, exploding iPods, beautiful musicians dancing naked on remote beaches, and more, and more.

All of which commends Klingler’s writing ability, because the story flows smoothly all the way through. The writing never allows the plot to slow down.

Continue reading

Essay from Tony Longshanks LeTigre

PRIDE & JOY

Or, How I Learned to Stop Hating and (Sort of) Love the Pride Festival

By Tony Longshanks LeTigre

For my first five years in San Francisco I talked shit about the Pride Festival, without ever once attending it. This past June of 2014, during an inspirational phase of getting back on my feet after a long spell in limbo, I decided to give Pride a chance & accepted an invitation to march in the parade with a protest contingent led by ceaseless agitator Tommi Avicolli Mecca. An epic day ensued; it turned out to be tons of fun, enough to make me rethink old prejudices.

My distaste for Pride came second-hand from friends of the more radical persuasion. I’d heard much criticism of the festival, and its governing body, the Pride Committee, whose heavy-handed refusal to grant honorary marshal status to the conscientious objector formerly known as Bradley Manning in 2013 resulted in a firestorm of controversy. This year we had something to celebrate, for the Pride Committee had apologized & belatedly honored Chelsea Manning (as she now prefers to be known). This victory was enough to overpower doubts & premonitions I had, in the weeks leading up to the festival, that a terrorist incident like the one at the Boston Marathon might disrupt Pride.

My cousin, whom I call Cousin, had graciously agreed to put me in hair & makeup for the big day, being a professional makeup artist & more gifted in these areas than my poor self. Sunday morning I arrived at his fab flat in Pacific Heights & we spent two glittering hours transforming ourselves into creatures of glamor. We were assisted by Cousin’s charming, civilized Persian lover of many years, who took the pre-makeup photo of the two of us together on this page. (Am I really that tall?) Girl drag hadn’t been my first impulse, I’d wanted to put together a sort of sexy super hero-meets-glam rocker outfit of my own design, but that didn’t happen in time, so I went with the path of least resistance: trying on things from Cousin’s magic closet, finally settling on an American flag dress & wig. I managed to punk-ify the outfit by pinning the dress up scandalously high, then decking my lower body in torn fishnets & old Converse sneakers sprayed with green paint. I was marching with protesters, after all; it would be unseemly to appear happily patriotic.

As you can see from the pics, Cousin did a marvelous job on my hair & makeup!

Continue reading