Megan Barickman
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barickme.bsky.social
Megan Barickman
@barickme.bsky.social
170 followers 760 following 8 posts
Writer living in Colorado.
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Reposted by Megan Barickman
hexliterary.bsky.social
"Eli says I can come over on Saturday, but I have to be quiet when we go inside, because his mom will be home all day."

We are so stoked to feature a new one by @lilliekoi.bsky.social today that is absolutely oozing with a phenomenal sense of childhood dread and weirdness. Don't miss "Out," up now!
Out by Lillie E. Franks
Eli says I can come over on Saturday, but I have to be quiet when we go inside, because his mom will be home all day. One time on the playground behind the swings, Eli told me that he hates his mom, a...
hexliterary.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
ezhang77.bsky.social
Thrilled to have three tiny poems up on @havehashad.com!

www.havehashad.com/hadposts/amp...

Here’s one:
A city bursts inside of me My head becomes heavy from bloom. The lake leaks out of my eyes. I'm pregnant with families. They spill onto my toes and set up tents. I can hear crying on my kneecaps. At night, a train shivers with longing.
October 2, 2025 at 3:40 PM
barickme.bsky.social
Completely shocked and honored to find myself on this list with so many incredible writers. Thank you to the amazing folks at hex!! And good luck to all the nominees here and elsewhere!
hexliterary.bsky.social hex @hexliterary.bsky.social · Oct 1
We are so honored and excited to present out nominations for Best of the Net this year. Good luck to all of these phenomenal writers, and thank you all for reading and submitting to hex literary!
Graphic showing text over a creepy illustration of a head growing out of a plant. Text says: hex Best of the Net Nominations Fiction Megan Barickman - The Cattle-Maiden Richard Mirabella - Volcano People Poetry Julian Martinez - Gordon Lish Adrian Dallas Frandle - The Fastnet Adelina Sarkisyan - The Goblin King Calls Me Babe Elena Zhang - Stitched Together Seth Wade - Breaking News Monique Quintana - The Pinata
October 1, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
hexliterary.bsky.social
"The lectern of the conference room is emanating darkness. Profits are down. I know this because we all know this."

Surprise after surprise at this hilarious and horrifying marketing conference, we're so fired up to feature @johnchrostek.com's latest, Inclement Weather this week! Bring a jacket!! 🧥
Inclement Weather by John Chrostek
The lectern of the conference room is emanating darkness. Profits are down. I know this because we all know this. There is no escaping the revelation. I yearn to feel anything other than concern, but ...
hexliterary.com
September 16, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
xraylitmag.bsky.social
today we have a story by Cortez !

'Would You Tremble in the Presence of the Virgin Should She Come To Your Town?' is about the narrator's mother, who keeps getting pregnant.

brilliant themes of creation, scandal, & power in here <3 great sentences

xraylitmag.com/would-you-tr...
WOULD YOU TREMBLE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE VIRGIN SHOULD SHE COME TO YOUR TOWN? by Cortez
When Mother’s belly bloomed again, she pointed a french-tipped finger at the richest man in town. The accusation, though baseless, haunted him– it polluted his polished lawn, noosed his silk ties. Thi...
xraylitmag.com
August 25, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
hexliterary.bsky.social
"The cat stretched in the sunlight and talked to us, eyes narrowed, while Marco demonstrated the library machines."

Incredible restraint, a sense of mystery that lingers, a lazing library cat! @addisonzeller.bsky.social is back in hex with an absolute wonder that we can't stop thinking about! Go! 🐈‍⬛
hexliterary.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
hexliterary.bsky.social
"I absolve the sky. It is subject to forces unseen. Then I absolve my boss."

Incredibly stoked we get to feature two new @rorty.bsky.social surrealist bangers this week! Dreamworld imagery, playful language and a wonderfully bizarre sense of humor abound in these two beauties! Go peep! 🧶😶‍🌫️
Two by Ruby Rorty
After the metal band, the rubber band I absolve the sky. It is subject to forces unseen. Then I absolve my boss. He is subject to hubris and get smart quick schemes. I absolve myself, but only just...
hexliterary.com
July 22, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
amorak.bsky.social
“… or / I must change my understanding of what it means to be satisfied.”

—from the new issue of @shopoetryjournal.bsky.social
AMORAK HUEY Sumac I learned as a child which red sumac berries were safe— brittle dots of tartness to suck and spit into the underbrush, leaving the inside of my mouth puckered, tender. Today, on a walk starting in the woods, ending beside a meadow, I discover berries I think are those, but it has been so long. I must carry my sudden craving into the angled sunlight of afternoon, unsatisfied, or I must change my understanding of what it means to be satisfied.
July 8, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
havehashad.com
this Julián Martinez poem is a little different, yet just as amazing, than I've come to expect from him

"See, our lips bend:
we are always moving warmthward
through and beyond what we forgot we would say:

I’m so about being buried together."
https://www.havehashad.com/rx442
Anti-Elegy by Julián Martinez
after John Ashbery See, our lips bend: we are always moving warmthward (if I may) through and beyond what we forgot we would say: I’m so about being buried together. Your nightmares are of us being&hellip;
www.havehashad.com
July 5, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
moistpoetryjournal.bsky.social
“I don’t know why I always imagined
the fields in dusk—the little flame-
tailed foxes dragging their torches
behind.”

Reyzl Grace, with a gorgeous, new #SummerRiot poem 🦊🔥

@reyzlgrace.bsky.social
“Midrash on Judges 15:4” by Reyzl Grace
I don’t know why I always imaginedthe fields in dusk—the little flame-tailed foxes dragging their torchesbehind. Do you think, as they rushed from their doors,the Philistines saw how beautiful it w…
moistpoetryjournal.com
June 30, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
amiesouzareilly.bsky.social
"Most humans are selfish clumps of afflictions and grievances."

Love this!
splitlipthemag.bsky.social Split Lip Magazine @splitlipthemag.bsky.social · May 20
"One time a venomous snake got into the lazy river. I coaxed the snake out of the water with a soft pretzel and everyone called me a genius."

We're loving John Jodzio's funny but heartwarming I'M ALIVE BUT I'M IN ASHEVILLE from our MAY ISSUE: buff.ly/IHyKU8e
May 20, 2025 at 9:57 PM
barickme.bsky.social
‘Her body south-facing always, a spirit searching for union, for extension, for vegetable tranquillity; unpractised in green ways, in rootedness, but sapful, exalted and germinal.’
May 5, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
aaronburch.bsky.social
speaking of @joshuahebburn.bsky.social, here's another semi-recent banger...

www.scaffoldlit.com/microwriting...
life story by joshua hebburn — scaffold literary magazine
micro fiction
www.scaffoldlit.com
April 11, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
hexliterary.bsky.social
"The scientists were holding a press conference.

They often did this and were often ignored. The public was sick of novel findings."

Feeling crabby? Anneke Schwob (and several scientists) have the cure! This week on hex, "Carcinisation" is hilarious, strange, wonderful and very timely! Go read! 🦀
Carcinisation by Anneke Schwob
The scientists were holding a press conference. They often did this and were often ignored. The public was sick of novel findings. They couldn’t figure out why anything the scientists told them mat...
hexliterary.com
March 25, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
hexliterary.bsky.social
We are feeling lucky today... Open now! Submissions capped at 200. Send us something cool! 😈💜
hex Submissions Open Recent Contributors: Angela Liu * Ivy Grimes * Jose Hernandez Diaz Recent Awards: Best Microfiction * Best Small Fictions hexliterary.submittable.com/submit
March 17, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
hexliterary.bsky.social
"So today Mena’s got a bucket, and a bright, sharp trowel, and a scary-sharp gleam in her eye."

Oh, friends, this week we offer a quiet creeper, rivulets of unease tracing through impeccably crafted prose. "Mena, Until," by Patricia Russo is one you won't want to miss. 🪣

hexliterary.com?p=2553
Mena, Until by Patricia Russo
So today Mena's got a bucket, and a bright, sharp trowel, and a scary-sharp gleam in her eye. Rain's streaming down, and the air's thick and gray. Her nails are dirty, and it looks like she hasn't bru...
hexliterary.com
February 18, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
avantgarcia.com
Tupelo Press’ response to new NEA restrictions is inspiring and should serve as an industry standard. @tupelopress.bsky.social
Screenshot of Tupelo Press’ statement reading, “For 25 years, Tupelo Press has been devoted to widening the audience for contemporary poetry and literary prose by emerging and established writers of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including, especially, women and writers of color, the LGBTQ, immigrant, and Native American communities. We aim to develop wider audiences for, and deeper understanding of, innovative, multi-cultural writing by essential participants in this conversation. If our position means no more NEA grants for Tupelo Press, so be it. To act otherwise would be immoral.”
February 12, 2025 at 7:08 PM
barickme.bsky.social
Please check out my latest piece @hexliterary.bsky.social It’s got a bovine specter.
hexliterary.bsky.social hex @hexliterary.bsky.social · Feb 11
"Businessmen do not often dwell far from the fluorescent halls of their elective palaces. Still, businessmen go walking."

This week on hex, @barickme.bsky.social is back with a new wonder. This story is dreamlike, biblical, and so beautifully written. Go read "The Cattle-Maiden," up now! 🐄👻👇
The Cattle-Maiden by Megan Barickman
Businessmen do not often dwell far from the fluorescent halls of their elective palaces. Still, businessmen go walking. They commute from the private to the public, from the consumer to the producer, ...
hexliterary.com
February 11, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
danielmiller.bsky.social
Who up reading ghost-cow fiction??? If not, you are missing out... New @barickme.bsky.social, for the afternoon crowd! Go get it!
hexliterary.bsky.social hex @hexliterary.bsky.social · Feb 11
"Businessmen do not often dwell far from the fluorescent halls of their elective palaces. Still, businessmen go walking."

This week on hex, @barickme.bsky.social is back with a new wonder. This story is dreamlike, biblical, and so beautifully written. Go read "The Cattle-Maiden," up now! 🐄👻👇
The Cattle-Maiden by Megan Barickman
Businessmen do not often dwell far from the fluorescent halls of their elective palaces. Still, businessmen go walking. They commute from the private to the public, from the consumer to the producer, ...
hexliterary.com
February 11, 2025 at 6:52 PM
barickme.bsky.social
❤️❤️❤️
February 11, 2025 at 3:53 PM
barickme.bsky.social
I’m so excited to be back in one of my very favorite lit mags @hexliterary.bsky.social today with a little tale about capitalists and cow-ghosts.
hexliterary.bsky.social hex @hexliterary.bsky.social · Feb 11
"Businessmen do not often dwell far from the fluorescent halls of their elective palaces. Still, businessmen go walking."

This week on hex, @barickme.bsky.social is back with a new wonder. This story is dreamlike, biblical, and so beautifully written. Go read "The Cattle-Maiden," up now! 🐄👻👇
The Cattle-Maiden by Megan Barickman
Businessmen do not often dwell far from the fluorescent halls of their elective palaces. Still, businessmen go walking. They commute from the private to the public, from the consumer to the producer, ...
hexliterary.com
February 11, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
xraylitmag.bsky.social
today we have a teriffic story by Rylie Farr !! in this story, the narrator's girlfriend is slowly turning into an insect.

i loved how caring & supportive the narrator is as this happens -- turning a horror story into a love story.

xraylitmag.com/she-transmog...
she transmogrified in my bed by Rylie Farr
My girlfriend has started a new regiment this week. She told me after coming home yesterday from work. Supposedly, this is supposed to help her achieve her “ideal form.” Every night now she is suppose...
xraylitmag.com
January 27, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
hexliterary.bsky.social
"I want to look (inside) and see that the (centre) leads to a different world."

Dreamy, wondrous, a linguistic treat, a mysterious room--@isanaskeete.bsky.social's "at the (centre) of it all" hits all the bases! We love this delightfully strange story, up now!

Go read it! 👇
at the (centre) of it all by Isana Skeete
I want to look (inside) and see that the (centre) leads to a different world. A kaleidoscope of a world. And in that world is a brand spanking new. A diamond chrysalis. (inside) the chrysalis is anoth...
hexliterary.com
January 21, 2025 at 3:16 PM
barickme.bsky.social
“The only hope is in knowing there’s no cure.”
hexliterary.bsky.social hex @hexliterary.bsky.social · Jan 7
"My dear, you told me your dream because it frightened you."

This week on hex, we have an absolute wonder, a dark dream, a mysterious, cherubic group of children. Don't miss the fantastic "Dreams of the Fallen Angelic Youth," by @shiweizhou.bsky.social! Up now!👼👇
Dreams of the Fallen Angelic Youth by Shiwei Zhou
My dear, you told me your dream because it frightened you. But I want you to know that when you children first started appearing on the grassy knoll behind the hospital, we were the ones who were frig...
hexliterary.com
January 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reposted by Megan Barickman
neonpajamas.bsky.social
I started my own press!! Piżama (Polish for 'pajamas') is dedicated to showcasing the strange & the surreal. The weirder, the better.

Our first book is DISINTEGRATION MADE PLAIN AND EASY, the debut poetry collection by Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi.

neonpajamas.com/pizamapress
January 1, 2025 at 6:28 PM