Hi everyone.

I hope you're all doing well and that whatever projects you're working on as writers, readers, or otherwise are coming along nicely and bringing you joy. I finished the first draft of a novel at the end of June, which was my initial goal for summer, but I've been teaching a study abroad course since then and haven't touched the manuscript despite optimistically (naively? foolishly?) bringing a copy along. Just look at it sitting here beside me, full of unmet expectations:

So if you've finished half of what you intended to this season at least we're in one another's good company.

And here's what we've been up to at Necessary Fiction this week:

Melissa Reddish joined us again to review The Abyss by Jeyamohan and translated by Suchitra Ramachandran (Transit Books).

And the next story in our summer flash fiction series was "The Sinking Ship" by Kit Coyne Irwin, in our pages for the first time. 

Elsewhere, Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman (Coffee House Press) was longlisted for this year's Booker Prize. Emily Hall reviewed it for us in September 2025.

And The Belles by our fiction editor Lacey Dunham will be available in a new paperback edition in a few days. 

Thanks for reading,

Steve Himmer