Rather than commissioning pieces, the fourth issue of Beat the Dust was open to all writers to submit work. No theme – anything was considered. So, expect blasphemy, a gravedigger in Disneyland, Mark Ronson having sex with Lady GaGa on a piano, a dwarf pissing on dolphins, an actual message in a bottle thrown off the Isle of Wight Ferry and a child killer. Yep, it's creamy literary goodness, folks.
O: Tita Merello - Se Dice Mi Tita Merello Tango P: Peteco Carabajal - La Simple E: Anibal Troilo Y Edmundo Rivero - Mi Noche Triste N: Bajofondo Tango Club - Mi Corazon 2: Paulo Conte - Como Di 0: Carlos Gardel - Caminito 1: Shack - Daniella 0: Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs - Little Red Riding Hood
Ivy strained the fat from the custard and sighed. It was the Lord's fourth portion that morning and she was bored. When she first got her job with God she'd been really excited, but now, after 320 years, her heart had begun to pine for the men of a shipyard or barracks...
O: Astrud Gilberto - Once I Loved P: Elliott Smith - Between The Bars E: Jeff Buckley - Mojo Pin N: Cake - Satan Is My Motor 2: Chet Baker - Easy To Love 0: Tom Waits - Bad Liver And A Broken Heart 1: Nick Drake - Way To Blue 0: Leonard Cohen - Dress Rehearsal Rag
Submission Date:
16 Jul 2010
Category:
Poetry
In Chap-book
Title:
as if it wasn't crowded enough
Excerpt:
sometimes it feels like loss plants another skeleton inside of you
as if it wasn't crowded enough with one set of bones...
O: Iggy Pop - China Girl P: The Fall - Theme From Sparta F.C. E: Jake Thackray - Sister Josephine N: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - You've Really Got A Hold On Me 2: Chet Baker - There's A lull In My Life 0: Lonnie Donnegan - Cumberland Gap 1: Le Tigre - Deceptacon 0: Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy
Submission Date:
16 Jul 2010
Category:
Flash fiction
In Chap-book
Title:
Lunch Break
Excerpt:
I am flicking through a fashion magazine. There are women and men in it. They are wearing clothes. I want to be a fashion model. I eat a piece of chocolate cake...
O: Bad Company - Rock Steady P: Jeff Buckley - Corpus Christi Carol E: Foo Fighters - No Way Back N: Them Crooked Vultures - Interlude With Ludes 2: FFY - Kung Fu vs. Radio Astronomy 0: Kate Bush - Mrs Bartolozzi 1: Jay-Z Feat LaToya Williams - All Around The World 0: Biffy Clyro - That Golden Rule
Submission Date:
16 Jul 2010
Category:
Short story
In Chap-book
Title:
Sweeties Like Radioactive Worms
Excerpt:
A memorial pamphlet. Two cartoon strips, a photograph, and a recipe for Turkish coffee.
“For the perfect Turkish coffee use a fuller bodied bean such as Mysore, Brazilian or Guatemalan. Add these to a small milk pan of cold water so that there is just over three times as much water as there is coffee. Open three cardamom pods, checking that the seeds inside are black and podgy - the lighter, thinner ones are a bit like mouthwash and will spoil the taste...
O: Modest Mouse - Florida P: Morrissey - The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get E: The Ink Spots- I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire N: Beck - Asshole 2: Melvins - Night Goat 0: Eartha Kitt - I Want To Be Evil 1: Ministry - Lay Lady Lay 0: Andrew Jackson Jihad - Rejoice
Submission Date:
16 Jul 2010
Category:
Short story
In Chap-book
Title:
Pissing on Dolphins
Excerpt:
There used to be a house at Sunset beach that some hurricane flicked away with waves and wind. All that remained was the cement seawall and a set of stairs that led from the beach to the non-existent house. God was correcting the mistake that was Florida, one beachfront property at a time...
O: Tall Dwarfs - Nothing's Going To Happen P: Little Annie - I Think Of You E: Anti Atlas - Broken Doll N: Loves Ugly Children - Surf Nazis Must Die 2: Unitone Hi-Fi - Wickedness Increased 0: Global Goon - Scott Cronce Is The CEO 1: Salmonella Dub - Orbital (Yasmin Dub) 0: Keith Hudson - Michael Talbot Affair
Submission Date:
16 Jul 2010
Category:
Flash fiction
In Chap-book
Title:
Message In A Bottle No. 4: Isle of Wight Ferry
Excerpt:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I hope with all my heart that you will receive this message most promptly and directly.
I am currently on board a Wight Link ferry, and the name of the vessel is St. Faith. The waves are a bit choppy and I believe myself to be in treacherous danger.
It is not the tide that causes me to fear for my life, however. Rather, it is the murderous thieves that abound, running loose aboard this channel prison, causing me to creep about, terrified between the Promenade Deck, the Sundeck, and the Upper Lounge...
O: Tengo la Voz - Nortec Collective P: 300 Pounds Of Joy - Howling Wolf E: Arco Arena, Cake - Comfort Eagle N: Lupin The 3rd '78 - Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra 2: You Go To My Head - Bud Powell 0: Get Out My Life, Woman - Joe Williams 1: Andy's Chest - Lou Reed 0: Go Go Gadget Gospel - Gnarls Barkley
Submission Date:
16 Jul 2010
Category:
Short story
In Chap-book
Title:
Baby Monitor
Excerpt:
The baby monitor squeals and my hand jerks to it, pulling my mind out of a dreamless, unsteady sleep. Before I know where or who I am, I've pressed the receiver to my chest to muffle it and I'm counting off the steps from the bed to the source of my alarm. My baby daughter, May, is crying in the dark. Her voice rings in my head and down my stiff, aching back. It makes my stomach cramp and my veins clench. Something's wrong with my baby...
O: The Dope Show - Marilyn Manson P: Gimme Danger - The Stooges E: We Are The Pigs - Suede N: Suicide Bomb - Primal Scream 2: Get It On - Grinderman 0: Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse - The Brian Jonestown Massacre 1: The Ants Invasion - Adam & The Ants 0: For Your Pleasure - Roxy Music
Submission Date:
16 Jul 2010
Category:
Poetry
In Chap-book
Title:
Boneyard
Excerpt:
I placed two origami orchids in the hands of the dead child And a single kiss against the tape that covered his mouth The ghost trails of lipstick blurring into red vignette Under rain that flowed gun-blue through the gutters...
O: Frenz - The Fall P: Rococo - Cocteau Twins E: Don't Cry - Neil Young N: Kamikaze - PJ Harvey 2: Love in a Car - The House of Love 0: Mass Production - Iggy Pop 1: Daddy Died - Alan Vega 0: Several Girls Galore - My Bloody Valentine
Submission Date:
16 Jul 2010
Category:
Short story
In Chap-book
Title:
Wasteland
Excerpt:
By the edge of the park was an area where a railway had once been, but now it was cordoned off by a tall fence and dense with bushes and trees. One Sunday afternoon as Chris and I were playing out, Kenny, who was a couple years older, offered to take us over there to show us two secret underground bunkers he'd discovered. We weren't sure if we believed him, but all the same, it sounded interesting...
O: Tightrope - Janelle Monae P: Burial - Peter Tosh E: She Lives In My Lap - Andre 3000 N: Splurt (Sreamix) - Slaughter Mob 2: Take It Easy - Prince Buster 0: Feel Like Makin' Love - D'Angelo 1: She's Gone - Hall & Oates 0: I'm Ready - Dipset
Submission Date:
16 Jul 2010
Category:
Poetry
In Chap-book
Title:
The Forgetfulness of Fire
Excerpt:
I witnessed a blaze.
Afterwards, while holding a wooden board covered with the photographs of all the local fire starters, a policeman demanded of me:
Contact me