From the ‘zine: In the Heart of Dogtown by Sweetman

Contributing writer Sweetman’s essay “In the Heart of Dogtown” chronicles her experiences in an abandoned colonial settlement in Gloucester, Massachusetts and is a spooky telling of a town no one will talk about.

There were a few references stating Dogtown was a refuge for freed slaves and those who were suspected of witchcraft. One article I came across said its last inhabitants were prostitutes, aging former slaves and a pack of wild dogs. It emptied or died out by 1837. The houses fell to ruin and it’s never been inhabited since—why?

What little I found made me want to know more. I marveled at why such an interesting place in a destination city on the North Shore was barely mentioned. Despite the poverty of information, there was a common theme in every article and trail guide regarding Dogtown: its trails are confusing, it’s easy to get lost and you should never hike alone.

Continue reading Sweetman’s “In the Heart of Dogtown”

From the ‘zine: Seeing Through Red

Seeing Through Red
by Laura Dvorak

A week after I left the heat soared. The roads of Moscow were melting and men were dying, although indirectly and largely in part because they tried swimming the Baltic, bellies filled with vodka. Red vodka was my favorite, the cherry sweetness smooth and cool. The steaming streets of Moscow, becoming stickier in the third week of vindictive temperatures, were sprayed by convoys of water trucks, perhaps the very road-cleaning trucks the taxi crept behind, tires sluicing wet tar early Saturday morning two days before solstice. Maraschino light spilled across blocky buildings along the freeway. As the airport grew taller, I didn’t want to leave.

Continue reading “Seeing Through Red”

Best of the Net 2010 Nominees

Congratulations to our nominees for the Best of the Net 2010!

Nominees were eligible for selection if their piece was published in an issue of our ‘zine between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010.

Sundress Press established Best of the Net to promote the diverse and growing collection of voices that are choosing to publish their work online, a venue that still sees little respect from such yearly anthologies as the Pushcart and Best American series. The Best of the Net collection will hopefully help to bring more respect to an innovative and continually expanding medium.

You can read 2009’s winners and finalists, as well as the archive of past winners, at Best of the Net 2009.

Our nominees are:

Fiction
Lauren McDonald
Taped to a Rocket

Poetry
Jonathan Viguers
“it was right after she broke up with me.”

Rachel C. Fletcher
Reflecting on Life outside the Nunnery

Michelle Dominque
We Were Too Reckless With Our Hearts

Ivan Jenson
Bad Boy

Jason Blanco
left

Non-Fiction
Thomas Burchfield
The Wild Bunch: Down the Hole in Glorious Blood and Fire

July/August issue Is Here!

It finally happened! The July/August issue (#4) of this is waiting for you on our website with fiction by James Thibeault and Scott Deckman; poetry by Geer Austin, Micah Muldowney, Birch Taylor, Mariele Ventrice, Ami Xherro, and Lorenzo Buford; essays by Peter Gajdics and Cailin Barrett-Bressack; art by Maddie Scott; photography by John Densky; and reviews by our contributing writers Ursula K. Raphael, Jordon Chiarelli, and John Coleman.

In this issue, we also announce our poet spotlight initiative.

Comments? Questions? Feedback? Let us know!