“Ivan lay sprawled out in the snow, his limbs twisted. That’s what you look like when you fall out of the sky. Not like an angel or even a bird, but like a man never meant to be airborne.” from my short story “The Flight of Ivan Ivanovich” in issue 72 of Mexico’s Ofi Press. […]
The November 2021 issue of the Bosphorus Review of Books features my short story, “The Underwater City”. Read it here
“And may I ask where the present-day annihilators of your history happen to come from?” Aaron asked with ill-concealed irony.Gregor, in mid-sip, didn’t need to wait to speak to provide an answer. With apologetic eyes peering over the rim of his glass he pointed at the two of us. Seeing this the waiter scurried over […]
“The carriage begins to pick up speed. I want to lean forward and ask Roman if he’s okay, but when I look out again, I see, for the first time, people in the windows of a villa. They are staring expectantly up at the now pitch-black sky. The speed of the horses alarms their dogs […]
“How far do you have to go to be free of the threat of imprisonment? Up in the air, the idea of confinement suddenly became nonsensical. There were no walls, nothing solid to keep you still. On the earth though, there were borders and barracks and armed guards…” From my short story “The Flight of […]
“The war is over. Troy has been looted and burned. A valiant Greek warrior whose name has been lost to posterity and so will be designated as X, loads his ship with treasure, hoists the sails, and sets a course for home.” So begins “The Anti-Odyssey”, a short story of mine in the newly published […]
“What does it matter where you die, where you’re buried? It’s where you live that counts.” My burst of confidence clearly wasn’t being reciprocated. “I’m not so sure that dying in Omsk is any worse than living there,” Adam responded, his eyes staring blankly into a future of factory smokestacks, grimy snow and excessive drinking… […]
“Superman, you say?” Vassily mumbled, musing over the name which we all assumed he must have heard of. “And you say he has special powers . . you mean of thinking?” “No Vass, he can leap over a building in a single bound and stuff like that. Get it?” Suzie said. “In fact, no. I […]
“What begins as a glance extends into lingering contemplation. She is going through my passport page by page, as if reading a novel. Then she turns to the computer for some corresponding information and back again. Her eyes have lit up. My first reaction is pride, that she likes it, but then I remember that […]
“It was as if there was a roulette wheel turning, not with numbers, but with destinations that had evocative names: Sofia, Odessa, Bangkok, Istanbul. He had been watching the wheel spin, waiting to see where the ball would finally land. He would be happy to go to any of these faraway places and so assumed […]
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