by Joe B. Sills
Little by little I am entering into a fantastic world.
-Chekhov
The first snow of winter falls on The Taganrog Gymnasium for Boys. Students exit from a wide doorway, each of them uniformed in a dark blue tunic with a long row of copper buttons. A first-grader removes his cloak and sits on it, then demands that someone pull him. An icicle is plucked from the corner of a windowsill, is sucked on, stolen, and hurled at a sparrow. The Greek instructor removes half a sausage from his pocket and inspects it. He gives it a nibble and walks homeward, weaving through a row of skeletal elms.
Anton waits until there is no one left to follow him. He shapes snow into five tiny spheres and assembles them along a low railing. Once he has eaten them, he makes five more. …MORE
 Conor Broughan, Fiction Editor
Many readers of Sycamore Review are also writers. So we wanted to pose a few craft questions to contributor Naomi Williams that might illuminate her process and techniques when writing “Items for Exchange” which can be read in its entirety in Issue 23.2-Summer/Fall 2011.
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by Naomi J. Williams
PLAUSIBILITY
He always forgets how unpleasant the crossing from Calais is. He has never once made the trip that there wasn’t inclement weather, contrary winds and tides, unexplained delays, seasick fellow-travelers, surly packet captains, or dishonest boatmen waiting to extort the passengers ashore. This time it is all of the above, and by the time he reaches Dover, he has, of course, missed the stagecoach to London. He spends the night at the Ship Hotel, where he endures a hard, …MORE
by Conor Broughan, Fiction Editor
 Congratulations to Issue 23.1 contributor Edith Pearlman who has been selected to receive the 2011 Pen/Malamud Award! The award recognizes a body of work that demonstrates excellence in the art of short fiction and we here at Sycamore Review know that no one deserves the award more after publishing Pearlman’s thought-provoking, speculative short story “Last Words” in our last issue.
The award follows a busy year for Edith Pearlman who also published Binocular Vision, a collection of new and selected stories with Lookout Books. Be sure to read our review of Binocular Vision and our recent interview with Edith Pearlman before you order your copy of Issue 23.1. This award was a long time coming and is well deserved. We can’t wait to read more Edith Pearlman stories …MORE
By CONOR BROUGHAN, Fiction Editor
 We here at Sycamore Review are pleased to extend our congratulations to contributing fiction writer Adam Prince whose short story collection The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men will be published by Black Lawrence Press next year. Prince won the 2010 Wabash Fiction prize with his short story “The Island of Lost Boys.” We knew when we published the story that Adam Prince was only at the beginning of a very exciting writing career and the publication of his first collection of short stories is evidence of that.
Keep your eyes peeled for the new collection from Black Lawrence Press next year and in the meantime, be sure to check out the 2010 Wabash Fiction prize-winning story “The Island of Lost Boys” in our Issue 22.2-Summer/Fall 2010. And while you’re at it, …MORE
Many readers of Sycamore Review are also writers. So we wanted to pose a few craft questions to contributor Greg Schutz that might illuminate his process and techniques when writing his story “You are the Greatest Lake” which can be read in its entirety in Issue 23.1-Winter/Spring 2011.
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BY GREG SCHUTZ
The next day is Sunday, the end of our long weekend on the shore, and Dot wants to fish. After breakfast, John finds a small rod for her and ties a golden hook to the end of the line. The knot he uses is a complicated, twisting thing, his fingers moving faster than my eyes can follow. He and Dot walk the edge of the yard, prying up rocks and rotten logs to gather angleworms and grubs. I watch from the kitchen window. Dot is fearless, plunging wrist-deep into the dirt.
Today, John …MORE
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