The Metaworker Literary Magazine
@themetaworker.bsky.social
We're The Metaworker: where great stories are forged 🔨✏️
New content published every Monday at noon PST ✨
Check our website for updated submission windows 🖋️📚
themetaworker.com/link-in-bio/
New content published every Monday at noon PST ✨
Check our website for updated submission windows 🖋️📚
themetaworker.com/link-in-bio/
"On the neighborhood page they argue about outdoor cats and songbirds, carpenter bee traps and pollinators." - excerpt from does anybody know, prose poetry by Jennifer Lubke #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/11/17/d...
themetaworker.com/2025/11/17/d...
November 17, 2025 at 8:15 PM
"On the neighborhood page they argue about outdoor cats and songbirds, carpenter bee traps and pollinators." - excerpt from does anybody know, prose poetry by Jennifer Lubke #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/11/17/d...
themetaworker.com/2025/11/17/d...
"It was dark, warm, and sticky in there." - excerpt from Falling in Love Inside a Stray Hot Sauce Packet, micro fiction by Sarp Sozdinler #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/11/14/l...
themetaworker.com/2025/11/14/l...
November 14, 2025 at 8:13 PM
"It was dark, warm, and sticky in there." - excerpt from Falling in Love Inside a Stray Hot Sauce Packet, micro fiction by Sarp Sozdinler #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/11/14/l...
themetaworker.com/2025/11/14/l...
"moonish, midnight flesh / swollen with frost, / the plum blooms melodramatic..." - excerpt from Of Plum and Cherry, poetry by Shannon Cates #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/11/10/o...
themetaworker.com/2025/11/10/o...
November 10, 2025 at 8:15 PM
"moonish, midnight flesh / swollen with frost, / the plum blooms melodramatic..." - excerpt from Of Plum and Cherry, poetry by Shannon Cates #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/11/10/o...
themetaworker.com/2025/11/10/o...
"Families and partners mill about in the sun and the warm air. No one is with me. Not anymore." - exerpt from I'm Okay, non-fiction by Ed Kratz #MetaworkerMonday
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November 3, 2025 at 8:15 PM
"Families and partners mill about in the sun and the warm air. No one is with me. Not anymore." - exerpt from I'm Okay, non-fiction by Ed Kratz #MetaworkerMonday
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themetaworker.com/2025/11/03/i... "
"we're watching that Beatles / documentary. Get Back. / it’s pretty good generally." - excerpt from Yoko, poetry by DS Maolalai #MetaworkerMonday
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October 27, 2025 at 7:15 PM
"we're watching that Beatles / documentary. Get Back. / it’s pretty good generally." - excerpt from Yoko, poetry by DS Maolalai #MetaworkerMonday
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"we carve what we call secret tongues / into the tender skin of trees, / fingernails packed with earth / and vows strung like webs." - excerpt from "Kicker Kids, poetry by Tejal Doshi #MetaworkerMonday
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October 20, 2025 at 7:13 PM
"we carve what we call secret tongues / into the tender skin of trees, / fingernails packed with earth / and vows strung like webs." - excerpt from "Kicker Kids, poetry by Tejal Doshi #MetaworkerMonday
themetaworker.com/2025/10/20/k...
themetaworker.com/2025/10/20/k...
"...echoes of Sunday School pull me from my book to the unyielding curve of a church bench." - excerpt from "Abecedarian Lament", creative non-fiction by M.R. Lehman Wiens #MetaworkerMonday
themetaworker.com/2025/10/13/a...
themetaworker.com/2025/10/13/a...
October 13, 2025 at 7:10 PM
"...echoes of Sunday School pull me from my book to the unyielding curve of a church bench." - excerpt from "Abecedarian Lament", creative non-fiction by M.R. Lehman Wiens #MetaworkerMonday
themetaworker.com/2025/10/13/a...
themetaworker.com/2025/10/13/a...
"my shadow slips like fallen light into the gelato rain of second grade ants in raisin boxes" - excerpt from Gelato Rain, poetry by Azure Brandi #TheMetaworker
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October 6, 2025 at 7:24 PM
"my shadow slips like fallen light into the gelato rain of second grade ants in raisin boxes" - excerpt from Gelato Rain, poetry by Azure Brandi #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/10/06/g...
themetaworker.com/2025/10/06/g...
"I find the station where the long tracks meet. / It's burrowed beside an old steel mill..." excerpt from On the Train to Charlotte, poetry by M. C. Tuggle #TheMetaworker
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September 29, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"I find the station where the long tracks meet. / It's burrowed beside an old steel mill..." excerpt from On the Train to Charlotte, poetry by M. C. Tuggle #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/09/29/t...
themetaworker.com/2025/09/29/t...
"you rise, / lay your arms like the seam / of the first dawn across / my shoulders and sigh with the robins," excerpt from Sharh on on Sahih al-Bukhari 5460, poetry by Reyzl Grace @reyzlgrace
themetaworker.com/2025/09/22/s...
themetaworker.com/2025/09/22/s...
September 22, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"you rise, / lay your arms like the seam / of the first dawn across / my shoulders and sigh with the robins," excerpt from Sharh on on Sahih al-Bukhari 5460, poetry by Reyzl Grace @reyzlgrace
themetaworker.com/2025/09/22/s...
themetaworker.com/2025/09/22/s...
"Emerald did not tell Harrison that she worked at BIT, the London underground information service." excerpt from Emerald in the Seventies, fiction by Joan Slatoff
themetaworker.com/2025/09/19/e...
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September 19, 2025 at 7:15 PM
"Emerald did not tell Harrison that she worked at BIT, the London underground information service." excerpt from Emerald in the Seventies, fiction by Joan Slatoff
themetaworker.com/2025/09/19/e...
themetaworker.com/2025/09/19/e...
"and the beer / tastes of bathwater / but water is not safe / to drink, and so / here we are" excerpt from Outsourcing, poetry by DS Maolalai #TheMetaworker
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September 15, 2025 at 7:51 PM
"and the beer / tastes of bathwater / but water is not safe / to drink, and so / here we are" excerpt from Outsourcing, poetry by DS Maolalai #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/09/15/o...
themetaworker.com/2025/09/15/o...
First Date, Blank Zoo and Last Year, micro fiction by Erin Matheson Ritchie #TheMetaworker
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September 12, 2025 at 7:24 PM
First Date, Blank Zoo and Last Year, micro fiction by Erin Matheson Ritchie #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/09/12/m...
themetaworker.com/2025/09/12/m...
"she asked eggs / for an answer / they could not give." - excerpt from Monday Morning, poetry by Mark J. Mitchell @MJMitchellwriter #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/09/01/m...
themetaworker.com/2025/09/01/m...
September 1, 2025 at 7:53 PM
"she asked eggs / for an answer / they could not give." - excerpt from Monday Morning, poetry by Mark J. Mitchell @MJMitchellwriter #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/09/01/m...
themetaworker.com/2025/09/01/m...
"walk the highway until you see the billboard ad of the same two politicians, year-marked with bad graffiti and dust..." - excerpt from To find your grandmother’s house, poetry by Yev Gelman #TheMetaworker
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themetaworker.com/2025/08/29/f...
August 29, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"walk the highway until you see the billboard ad of the same two politicians, year-marked with bad graffiti and dust..." - excerpt from To find your grandmother’s house, poetry by Yev Gelman #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/08/29/f...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/29/f...
Congratulations to Metaworker author Ken Poyner, who has a new collection of speculative poetry out in the world! Buy a copy of "Science is Not Enough" on his website or on Amazon.
www.barkingmoosepress.com
www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGJB125...
www.barkingmoosepress.com
www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGJB125...
August 27, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Congratulations to Metaworker author Ken Poyner, who has a new collection of speculative poetry out in the world! Buy a copy of "Science is Not Enough" on his website or on Amazon.
www.barkingmoosepress.com
www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGJB125...
www.barkingmoosepress.com
www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGJB125...
and i agree, a micro poem by Breton Lalama #TheMetaworker #MetaworkerMonday
themetaworker.com/2025/08/25/a...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/25/a...
August 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
and i agree, a micro poem by Breton Lalama #TheMetaworker #MetaworkerMonday
themetaworker.com/2025/08/25/a...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/25/a...
"My mother's ninety-fifth birthday was in late June. I couldn't let the occasion pass unnoticed, regardless of her condition." - excerpt from The Finding Momo Birthday, creative nonfiction by Madlynn Haber #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/08/22/f...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/22/f...
August 22, 2025 at 7:30 PM
"My mother's ninety-fifth birthday was in late June. I couldn't let the occasion pass unnoticed, regardless of her condition." - excerpt from The Finding Momo Birthday, creative nonfiction by Madlynn Haber #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/08/22/f...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/22/f...
"For a dog or a squirrel you might hit the brakes, but for something so small, you lift your foot and hope for the best." - excerpt from Swerve (you're hit), fiction by Charles Sutphin #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/08/15/s...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/15/s...
August 15, 2025 at 7:06 PM
"For a dog or a squirrel you might hit the brakes, but for something so small, you lift your foot and hope for the best." - excerpt from Swerve (you're hit), fiction by Charles Sutphin #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/08/15/s...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/15/s...
"The panther paces her cage / Heavy velvet paws pad the cell / back and. forth / left. and right." - excerpt from Through the Motions, poetry by Diane Funston #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/08/11/t...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/11/t...
August 11, 2025 at 7:21 PM
"The panther paces her cage / Heavy velvet paws pad the cell / back and. forth / left. and right." - excerpt from Through the Motions, poetry by Diane Funston #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/08/11/t...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/11/t...
"Tonight we burn away the stain / We bid farewell to the profane" - excerpt from Light the Fire, poetry by LeAnna McEuen. #TheMetaworker
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themetaworker.com/2025/08/08/l...
August 8, 2025 at 7:12 PM
"Tonight we burn away the stain / We bid farewell to the profane" - excerpt from Light the Fire, poetry by LeAnna McEuen. #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/08/08/l...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/08/l...
Elena, Mel, and Cerid speak with Kathryn Temple and Matthew Smallwood about unfinished work. They discuss the potential of the written “junk pile” vs the value of starting fresh, as well as the role of perfectionism in art. #TheMetaworkerPodcast
themetaworker.com/2025/08/01/p...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/01/p...
August 1, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Elena, Mel, and Cerid speak with Kathryn Temple and Matthew Smallwood about unfinished work. They discuss the potential of the written “junk pile” vs the value of starting fresh, as well as the role of perfectionism in art. #TheMetaworkerPodcast
themetaworker.com/2025/08/01/p...
themetaworker.com/2025/08/01/p...
"The musical instruments in the wooden cabinet are still alive." - excerpt from "Fragments of Life", poetry by Sonnet Mondal #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/07/28/f...
themetaworker.com/2025/07/28/f...
July 28, 2025 at 7:32 PM
"The musical instruments in the wooden cabinet are still alive." - excerpt from "Fragments of Life", poetry by Sonnet Mondal #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/07/28/f...
themetaworker.com/2025/07/28/f...
"Our pond monster is the best. He waits under unruffled water, eyes only visible if you grow too close..." excerpt from micro fiction by Ken Poyner #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/07/25/c...
themetaworker.com/2025/07/25/c...
July 25, 2025 at 7:20 PM
"Our pond monster is the best. He waits under unruffled water, eyes only visible if you grow too close..." excerpt from micro fiction by Ken Poyner #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/07/25/c...
themetaworker.com/2025/07/25/c...
Congratulations to Amita Basu, Metaworker author, Pushcart Prize nominee, & former slush reader, on the publication of her new book of short stories, At Play! We're excited to share this with you--go buy a copy!
US - www.amazon.com/Play-other-s...
India - www.amazon.in/At-Play-stor...
US - www.amazon.com/Play-other-s...
India - www.amazon.in/At-Play-stor...
July 23, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Congratulations to Amita Basu, Metaworker author, Pushcart Prize nominee, & former slush reader, on the publication of her new book of short stories, At Play! We're excited to share this with you--go buy a copy!
US - www.amazon.com/Play-other-s...
India - www.amazon.in/At-Play-stor...
US - www.amazon.com/Play-other-s...
India - www.amazon.in/At-Play-stor...