This month’s reader for fiction is Margaret Adams!
About Margaret: I’ve been reading, writing, and publishing short stories as a side-hustle to other jobs for 15 years. I snuck pages from the cab of a CAT loader while waiting for planes to land as a cargo handler. I browsed lit mags online during a brief stint as an administrative assistant. I got through my first year as a nurse practitioner by reading one short story every day on my lunch break. Reading and writing has been the thread running through a series of jobs, moves, and seasons.
At JMWW: I became aware of JMWW when I lived in Baltimore from 2010-2014. Several years later, I started reading fiction submissions for JMWW after a move to a rural area had me looking for ways to stay remotely connected to the literary community. Reading submissions forced me to stop asking the simpler, lazier question of “is this something I recognize/something I usually like to read?” and start asking “is this succeeding at what it’s trying to do (and do I understand what it’s trying to do)?”
Wishlist: I’m looking for well-observed stories that feel complete, regardless of whether they are several sentences or many pages long. Short stories I’ve read this year that I’ve adored have included work by Farah Ali, Morgan Talty, Chris Stuck, Jennifer Fliss, Lara Erich, and Corinne Manning.
JMWW 