Editor’s Note

Art, like the world, is dangerous. As artists and readers, we explore the vulnerable parts of ourselves with the fragile hope that we’ll be changed by what we encounter. 

The contributors in this issue have risked entering a world full of dangers: fire, war, abusive men, murderous marsupials, the onward march of time, the fierce pull of grief, and imminent loss of self. They’ve done so even on a planet battered by raging storms and rising tides, a world choking on extraction capitalism and threats of authoritarian regimes and morality police. 

It’s a brave thing. Some might say it isn’t worth the time, the emotional cost, but stories have the power to connect us, to lend us the strength of feeling seen and known. In doing so, they are dangerous in another way: they threaten those who wield unjust power, those who maintain control through isolation and division. 

So, dear readers, take a spin through this issue: explore the vast chasm of human experience and risk a random encounter that will leave you changed. 

What’s New at Vast Chasm

• For this issue, we’re piloting audio recordings to accompany some of the pieces. Because read-alouds are an integral part of our acceptance process, it feels like a perfect fit. We hope to increase this effort in the future as a way to improve accessibility and allow our audience another method of interacting with the issue.
• Got feedback about our first four issues? Editors@VastLiteraryPress.org
• Want to support our work? Click here to donate

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Table of Contents

Title	Genre	Writer
Fire	Flash CNF	Jasmine Griffin
Unbecoming	Fiction	Sophia Savva
Not My Father	Flash CNF	Ray Lantrip
Death by Opossum	Flash Fiction	Matt Goldberg
Ragamuffins	Flash CNF	Michele Finn Johnson
The Four of Us, Girls	Flash Fiction	Jeanine Skowronski
How to Stop Evaporating	Flash Fiction	Anita Goveas
Preservation	Poetry	Ly Faulk
Wild Man	Fiction	Molly Seeling