All those who submitted work for Shooter’s “Pulling the Trigger” issue have now been contacted, and the authors selected for publication will be listed here closer to the launch.

There were a few writers whose work it was difficult to leave out, so we’d like to acknowledge them now. All of the shortlisted pieces were extremely well written: some spun moving narratives of solitary ageing or tragic death; some flared with humour in the face of infuriating bureaucracy, evasive pinatas or zombie threats; one story was difficult to turn down solely for a joke about its protagonist’s weight. All of the shortlisted work was a pleasure to read and we hope the following pieces find a home elsewhere.

Shortlisted Fiction:

David Behrend, “Gridlock”

Angelita Bradney, “Golden Eyes”

Nicole Byers, “Triage”

Darren Lee, “On the House”

Stephenson Muret, “The Pink Donkey”

Christopher Murphy, “Veritas”

Deborah Smith, “What Happened”

Tyson West, “Nangur”

Shortlisted Poetry:

Gayle Lauradunn, “Taking Care of Things”

Thomas Pescatore, “Parking Scheduled”