The magazine, which includes five new short stories, two essays, 24 poems - six of which are from the publication's featured poet, poetry translations, several reviews and several pictures, has a clean appearance unlike many literary or otherwise publications that pack as much as possible onto their pages and lure readers to buy and read the magazine by a bunch of teasers on its front flap. Or inundate its inner pages with an overabundance of advertisements.

The Stinging Fly doesn't do that.

There are very few advertisements, in fact, and the contents are not broken into sections of just short stories; all poetry; or pictures and illustrations. They are broken up, with a slew of poetry separating the shorts and the pieces on the featured poet and writer Nick Laird.

The only section that is separate is the book reviews. The reviews, at a quick glimpse, seem to be very in depth and thorough.

As for the contributors for this issue were Colm Liddy, Gilman Noonan, Ross O'Connor, Kusi Okamura, Aiden O'Reilly, Noel Conneely, Ivy Alvarez, Christine Broe, Michael Curtis, Oliver Dunne, Terry-Jane England, Eamon Grennan, Ron Houchin, Bernie Kenny, Nick Laird, Paula Meehan, Alan Jude Moore, Mary O'Donnell, Billy Ramsell, Mark Roper, Andy Young, and reviews by David Butler, Louise C. Callaghan, Juan Goytisolo, Anne Le Marquand Hartigan, Oliver Marshall, John W. Saxton and Breda Sullivan. I especially liked Ross O'Connor's short story �Small Things�. There is something oddly familiar about the piece. It may largely due to the subject matter. Who hasn't experienced events like O'Connor describes in this short story, especially in the opening paragraphs, from the key that doesn't fit in the lock properly to the landlord who shows up only to fix something that's "broken to the point where he can't ignore it anymore. So long the rent keeps getting paid..." Who cares, right?

His style of writing reminds me of Tim Cooke and his series of short stories that were included in �Ellipsis 1: Comma Modern Shorts�.

Equally alike the shorts found in Ellipsis at least two other short stories are written by an individual the Stinging Fly staff identifies solely as the Anonymous Lady, and the other by Colm Liddy. Lady's story, entitled �Young Woman in Williamsburg�, provides a "day in the life of" glimpse in one woman's life as she and a friend go and retrieve some furniture. Whereas Liddy's �Seven Significant Trips to the Bathroom� provides a glimpse at the man's point of view to courtship. Nothing says one's ready for marriage until the ring unexpectedly fails into the toilet and the man unconsciously reaches for the level again "thinking: Okay. best of three!"

This also shows the humour readers will find in this edition of the Stinging Fly (Perhaps, that's a reason for the name of the magazine, you think? The stories leave a lasting impression like a sting or the pinch of an insect bite.)

But there is a serious side of the magazine. Take for example Terry-Jane England's poem �Heather, In Miami�. Addressing the dangers of age spots, sun damage and skin cancer, she writes:

�In the morning, I'll call to remind her
to wear sunscreen
She doesn't know in her life there are things
that haven't happened yet�.

How poignant and honest is that? And how true?! We think we are so invincible when we are young, only to realize, as we age, that we aren't!

I especially liked Noel Conneely's poem �Uncles�. Two areas of this poem really moved me. The first was:

�How can such men have sinned
who stooped in shallow fields
where movements inched its way
and towns was the edge of the known?�

and

�I thought they rode to heaven on clouds of gorse-fire smoke,
Arms and hands swelled from work,
they had crab apple hearts
that couldn't be hurt�.

What imagery in both, but the kicker in this particular poem was the very last line:

�Now, we're told that the heart is a muscle�.

It makes you think while bringing a smile to your face, realising that there is an underlying humour beneath this poem, even though it addresses a rather serious matter.

What I also liked about the publication was its interview with Nick Laird. I wasn�t familiar with Laird�s work until now, but learning how he ended up becoming a writer and who influenced his work was intriguing.

The Stinging Fly features a satisfying and diverse selection of writing and I definitely look forward to reading subsequent issues.

Robin M. Buehler is a journalist in southern New Jersey. She's had poetry included in Taj Mahal Review, Byline Magazine, Poetic Hour, Writers Post Journal, Ancient Heart, Dark Walls, Gothic Revue, Canadian Zen Haiku, Sacred Twilight and, most currently, PW Review. She's also had short stories published in Fantasies, Collection of the World's Greatest Short Stories; Sacred Twillight and in soon-to-be released anthology, No Longer Dreams. Book reviews she has written have appeared in Sabledrake and Gothic Revue. Ms. Buehler has also had some of her photogrpahy published.

© 2006 Laura Hird All rights reserved.