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MacQueen’s Quinterly: Knock-your-socks-off Art and Literature
Published: 20 Aug. 2025

Contents: Issue 29

New Book
From MacQ
  Cheribun Galore!
Challenge Results
 
Fiction Ekphrastic Works Flash
(501–1,000 words)
Micro
(up to 500 words)
Faction Bio Notes Essays, Etcetera Statistics Visual Arts Poetry & Hybrids Ekphrastic Works Haibun & Related Haiga & Related Micro-Poems Poetry: Lineated Prose Poems

Content Warning: MacQueen’s Quinterly (aka MacQ) contains an eclectic range of literary and artistic works that may deal with difficult and emotionally charged topics. Thus, many works that appear in MacQ are suitable only for mature adults. However, an “[R]” after titles below simply indicates reprinted work (or, more accurately, republished work, since MacQ the journal is published online and not in print).

Some of the more sexually explicit pieces may be designated as erotic, but not always. Overall, MacQ’s publisher prefers to avoid content warnings, because they tend to ruin surprises within the pieces.

Unless otherwise noted, all works published in this journal are copyrighted by their respective authors and artists, and may NOT be reproduced without written permission from individual copyright holders. Thank you for respecting copyrights.

Works by an individual may appear under multiple genres below. For a complete list of works by each person, see Index of Contributors.

 
:: 29 ::
Cheribun Galore! Challenge Results
Clare MacQueen Results of MacQ’s Cheribun Challenge #3
(with links to the following 13 cheribun)
 
Oz Hardwick “Adventures in Experiential Limnology” – First Place Winner
Hazel Hall “The Landscape Whispers” – Second Place Winner
Cynthia Anderson “The Mom and Dad Show: Episode 21,900” – Third Place Winner
 
  Short-Listed Finalists (unranked):
 
Lana Hechtman Ayers “New Anthem”
Tina Barry “Chocolate Orange”
Peggy Bilbro “The Shade of the Coolabah Tree”
Margaret Dornaus “Social Insecurity”
Colleen M. Farrelly “Crossing Paths”
Jane Frank “Orange Blossom”
James Penha “Familial”
Tracy Royce “Ways to Occupy Your Mind While Your Slender Friend Complains About Her Weight”
Adelaide B. Shaw “Slip Sliding Away”
Scott Wiggerman “Voices From Each Side of a Triangle” [cheribun story, braided]
 
Note: Ten long-listed finalists from this Challenge will be published in Issue 30 of MacQueen’s Quinterly in mid-September 2025. For details, please see Results.
:: 29 ::
Ekphrastic Works
Please do not copy images and/or image URLs from this website without written permission from the copyright holders. Unless otherwise noted, all works in MacQueen’s Quinterly are copyrighted by their respective artists and authors. Thank you for respecting copyrights.
 
Edward Baranosky 1949 No. 1 [poem], after the painting by Clyfford Still
Roberta Beary The Dignified Goat on Castle Grassland Close Enough To Be Petted [microfiction], after a photograph
Malcolm Glass Anonymous Shrine [poem], after a photograph
Kat Lehmann Two Days Before She Dies [haibun], after a painting by George Frederic Watts
Robbi Nester After Life [poem], after a photograph by Vassilis Tangoulis
Daryl Scroggins Blue Passage [microfiction], after woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige
Broken Goddess [micro-poem], after fragment of marble statue of Venus
 
Note: If you’re interested in submitting ekphrastic works to MacQueen’s Quinterly, wonderful! We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read Ephective Ekphrastics: A Guide for Verbalizing Art, tips by Jack Cooper and Clare MacQueen in KYSO Flash which include additional examples of what Clare’s looking to publish here in MacQ as well. See also the excellent recommendations from Robert L. Dean, Jr. in his essay on craft: Finding the Door: One Writer’s Approach to Ekphrasis (MacQ-13, May 2022).
:: 29 ::
Essays, Etcetera [nonfiction forms]
Bella Mahaya Carter Fallopian Tubes [micro-CNF]
Horns [micro-CNF]
Ce Rosenow Still Motion: Poems and Photographs by Jianqing Zheng and Leo Touchet [book review]
Wondrous Instruction and Advice from Global Poets by Charlotte Digregorio [book review]
:: 29 ::
Fiction: Flash and Micro*
Mikki Aronoff See Haibun below for her haibun story.
Roberta Beary See Ekphrastic Works above.
Guy Biederman How to Compliment a Tomato [micro]
Jennifer L. Freed See Haibun below for her haibun story.
Sheila Grether-Marion I. Claude Tries Scriptwriting [historical flash, humorous]
II. 1923: Elsa Studies Sculpting [historical flash]
III. 1923: A Basket of Crabs [historical flash]
Charlotte Hamrick All the Little Organisms [micro]
Zack Fox Loehle Checking the Locks [flash]
Yvonne Morris Joy Ride [micro]
Keith Polette See Humor & Wordplay below for his haibun story.
Daryl Scroggins See Ekphrastic Works above.
Sarp Sozdinler The Eighth Continent [flash]
Joshua Michael Stewart A Hot One [micro]
 
*Note: At MacQ, Flash Fiction = 501-1,000 words, and Microfiction, no more than 500 words. These word counts do include titles!
:: 29 ::
Haibun [prose + micro-poetry]
Cynthia Anderson Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You
Mikki Aronoff Tangle and Split [haibun story]
Owen Bullock The etymology of despair [experimental]
Eugene Datta Elina
Steady State
Claire Everett Into My Fire [haibun story]
Colleen M. Farrelly Entropy
Georgia Nocturne [anomalous]
Jennifer L. Freed Ashes and Dust [haibun story]
Kat Lehmann The Invented Hours
Kat Lehmann See also Ekphrastic Works above.
Bob Lucky The Future Is on Its Way
Clare Martin Coming of Age
Maeve O’Sullivan See Humor & Wordplay below.
Keith Polette Another Afterlife
Keith Polette See also Humor & Wordplay below.
Lynne Schilling Seven Silent Monks
Daryl Scroggins Accidental Metaphors
Morning Ritual
:: 29 ::
Haiga & Related Forms [poetry + visual art]
Please do not copy images and/or image URLs from this website without written permission from the copyright holders. Unless otherwise noted, all works in MacQueen’s Quinterly are copyrighted by their respective artists and authors. Thank you for respecting copyrights.
 
Kala Ramesh (shallow spring) [shahai: poem + photograph]
Gary S. Rosin (bouquet of roses) [shahai: poem + photograph]
:: 29 ::
Humor & Wordplay
Roberta Beary See Ekphrastic Works above.
Scott Ferry Cigar [prose poem]
Sheila Grether-Marion See Fiction: Flash and Micro above.
Maeve O’Sullivan Artificial Intelligence [haibun]
Keith Polette A Burrito with Bashō [haibun story]
:: 29 ::
Micro-Poems
Eugene Datta Evening
Harrison Fisher Be He Man
Lee Hudspeth and
Kathabela Wilson
Rapture [tan-ku]
Relief [tan-ku]
Bob Lucky Two One-bun: “The hike” and “Fog”
Lynne Schilling The Parachutist
Daryl Scroggins See Ekphrastic Works above.
Ron Scully Three Micro-Poems [senryu]
Four Micro-Poems [R] [senryu]
 
*Note: An “[R]” after a title above indicates republished work (aka reprint).
 
*Note: Beginning with Issue 7 of MacQ, micro-poems are no longer than 51 words each as counted by Mac Pages (the approximate equivalent of 280 characters, i.e., the former Twitter limit), with each word containing an average of 5.5 characters. The limit of 51 words includes punctuation, spaces between words, and the title if the micro-poem has one. Haiku, senryu, cherita, and tanka, for example, do not have titles.
:: 29 ::
Poetry: Lineated
Cynthia Anderson The Evidence
Edward Baranosky Emblems of Conduct
The Way of the Brush IX
Edward Baranosky See also Ekphrastic Works above.
Roberta Beary From That Moment in Eve’s Garden When We Stood Watching
Roy J. Beckemeyer A-440
Chiaroscuro
Robert L. Dean, Jr. Delon
Until the Body Burns to Ash
Kika Dorsey The Dead Rabbit
Dear Tante Elfi
Linda Nemec Foster A Golden Shovel for the Past
Your Childhood
Jennifer L. Freed 2025
In a Time of Turmoil
Malcolm Glass Music for Earth and Air
Malcolm Glass See also Ekphrastic Works above.
J.I. Kleinberg See Visual Arts below for her collage poems.
Robbi Nester See Ekphrastic Works above.
Maeve O’Sullivan Winter Beach
Alexis Rhone Fancher Easter Monday My Sister Ascends to Heaven With Pope Francis [pantoum]
Gary S. Rosin Labyrinth and Cane
Joshua Michael Stewart Sometimes I Feel Like an Old Chinese Poet Blues
Mark Wyatt See Visual Arts below for his pattern poem.
Jonathan Yungkans It’s Gone [R]
Letter to My Dad
Mister
 
*Note: An “[R]” after a title above indicates republished work (aka reprint).
:: 29 ::
Prose Poems
Guy Biederman Fifty-Year Minute
Bella Mahaya Carter Wishes and Dreams
Scott Ferry See Humor & Wordplay above.
Oz Hardwick As Advertised
Circus Days
Moon Landing as Open Simile
Courtney Harler Last Penny
Kendall Johnson Loretta Swit [R]
Daryl Scroggins Neighborhood Sounds Heard While Painting the House
 
*Note: An “[R]” after a title above indicates republished work (aka reprint).
:: 29
Visual Arts
Please do not copy images and/or image URLs from this website without written permission from the copyright holders. Unless otherwise noted, all works in MacQueen’s Quinterly are copyrighted by their respective artists and authors. Thank you for respecting copyrights.
 
  Part 1:
 
Scott Ferry Three Self-Portraits (Numbers 1, 2, and 5) [photographs]
 
J.I. Kleinberg Four Visual Poems [aka Collage Poems]:
and in The moonlight
irascible night
my blue sky
some speak
 
Kala Ramesh See Haiga and Related Forms above.
 
Gary S. Rosin See Haiga and Related Forms above.
 
Mark Wyatt Antigone [visual poem, aka pattern poem]
 
Part 2: Inspirations for Ekphrastic Works
 
Utagawa Hiroshige Fudo Falls at Oji [R] [woodblock print, 1857]
 
Vassilis Tangoulis Untitled [pier] [R] [B&W photograph]
 
George Frederic Watts Hope [R] [painting, 1886]
 
*Note: An “[R]” after titles above indicates republished works (aka reprints).
 
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