Public Republic

Zlatko Enev Photo: gemsling The River in the Box Somewhere on the outskirts of town there was a small cottage surrounded by a large garden. A girl with bright red hair lived there with her mother. Her father, who she used to visit from time to time in a far off town, had left a […]

Kerana Angelova Photo: mysza831 Introduction She was laden with years like an old quince tree. Though the fruit had already been picked, the tree in its mind continued to carry its load and lacked the strength to straighten its branches. It’s time, old woman Pignyo said to herself. Once, in the evening, something had cheeped […]

David Snell Photo: A. www.viajar24h.com “Ronnie Lee?” Mentally, the boy winced at the name his mother still called him. He was 17, after all. He’d told his mother and father and sister and any one else who’d listen that he was now “Ron.” It was cool and simple, not buttoned-down like “Ronald,” his given name.

Dimitar Atanasov Photo: davidChief In memory of my grandfather whose name I bear “… nothing has ever seemed more intolerable to man and human society than freedom!” Dostoevski PART ONE “Between killing and dying there is a third thing: Life.” Christa Wolf I A light wind was blowing. Srebrista (1) stood on the rise from […]

Donna Ison Photo: deerluvr CHAPTER ONE The scene was perfect…Fodor’s vacation guide perfect…way too damn perfect. A generous October sun drenched the meadow with an amber glow that set each blade and leaf afire. The sweet song of cardinals and chickadees lingered in the air. God sighed and a cool breeze rustled through the tall […]

Kristin Dimitrova Photo: Andrew Turner (The following is an excerpt from a novel) (Some remarks, inconsiderable events and traits of the characters are stolen from reality, but the novel is entirely fictional. A myth, however, is true because of the bigger story it relates, and not because of the costumes the characters wear at every […]

Julie Farkas Photo: Macsurak Remi trained the viewfinder of her camera at the painting of a couple dancing in a bar. They pressed their elongated figures close together, their expressions frozen and sad. The dark wood floorboards wobbled and dipped under their feet and the orange walls and ceilings curved inward. Remi wondered if she […]

David Snell Photo: Dan Zen As soon as she let the boy in the car, Claire knew she’d made a mistake. “I…I’m Claire,” she said to the hitchhiker, holding out her hand. He looked much larger sitting beside her. Seconds before, he’d appeared at the edge of her beams. A lone figure, half-crouched with his […]

Katerina Stoykova-Klemer Photo: friggy_30 The eighty-five year old widower was crossing the park with his cane, working to maintain a slow, steady speed. He knew his friends were waiting for him – a thinning group of retired grandfathers, spotted with age like leopards, wearing wrinkled berets and hand-me-down clothes from their children.

Donna Ison Photo: Victor Bezrukov It was homemade spaghetti sauce that opened my eyes to the dysfunction that was my childhood—Molly Woodford’s mother’s marinara to be exact. Molly Woodford was in my Brownie troupe. Her cocoa-colored uniform was always whistle clean and smelled of fabric softener. Mine was usually wrinkled and stained and smelled like […]

Lauren Shows Photo: peasap Sadness, it is said, is a kind motivator, and happiness its languid sibling. Sadness pushes you from your lonely chair at night, to wander halls, to run hands along walls, to make phone calls. To arrange and rearrange stacks of books. To write books of your own. Happiness keeps you in […]

Georgi Gosposinov Photo: Toni Blay They had met only a few hours before. He was in his very early thirties, she was in her late twenties. He had to give her a package to deliver to a friend of his across the ocean. She was only a go-between. It was a five-minute job, but two […]

Robert Foshee Photo: *Paddy* It was an exceptionally lovely outhouse. Half the time Lettie spent there was just for the view. Sitting, you looked out a window on either side. The woods were full of birdsong and dappled ground, trees cut by streaks of sunlight so distinct they scratched the air. The tips of the […]

Brian Russell Photo: mark lorch (The following is an excerpt of a memoir in progress.) The temperature was in the single digits and a fierce wind blew on the afternoon of December 28, 1977 as my brother Dave and I prepared to fly to Puerto Rico. Mom drove us to the airport reminding us of […]

David Snell Photo: b.e.n. Long shadows dapple the end of Badham Lane. “Why did you bring me here?” The girl whispers. “Good place to talk . . . get to know each other.” “Oh.” Silence creeps into the parked Chevy. “Danny, are we still going to the movie?”

Lauren Shows Photo: denis collette The sound of the hit, when it happens, is suspended in the air longer than the man himself. For a moment he’s up there, one gray nylon wing extended, the other curling around the side. His furry antennae, like his arms, are reaching up, feeling around in the air. He […]

Photo: toniblay My first memory is of falling down. One minute, I was running across my grandmother’s driveway, staring down at my new shoes. With their red uppers, sunshine yellow tongue, and bright blue laces, they were perfection in primary colors. That moment, I was the wind and my feet were a rainbow. The next […]

Dear friends, We are now “officially” starting our Public Republic project in English! Encouraged by the exciting success of the journal in Bulgaria (www.public-republic.com) and by the enthusiasm of our US-editor Katerina Stoykova-Klemer, we prepared the site in a similarly broad manner as the Bulgarian edition. We believe, we will soon have many contributions, a […]