Horsemouth and Aquariumhead

Tales of longing and desire for escape, Horsemouth and Aquariumhead features imaginative and sometimes unsettling characters. Whether the characters yearn for a different, unknown life, or they wish themselves out of something else, Turner’s surreal yet relatable collection offers glimpses to the depths beneath, above, or in-between our own domestic realities. One woman purchases a train ticket to a town that may or may not actually exist. Another discovers her life’s purpose through a burgeoning friendship with earnest dry-cleaning bags. A failing circus is organized around the sole act of unstoppering bottles of laughter. Fairy tales told in cars that take only leaded gas, these twelve flash pieces give readers a sense of belonging in environments whose rules we do not know.

Elizabeth Horner Turner’s debut poetry chapbook, The Tales of Flaxie Char, was published through dancing girl press in 2017. Her work has been published widely in journals such as Cutbank, Fairy Tale Review, Gulf Coast, Lost Balloon, and trampset, and it has also been selected for inclusion in Best Small Fictions and Wigleaf’s Top 50 and Long List. She’s been awarded scholarships to Tin House Workshop and Sewanee Writers’ Conference. She earned a BA from Hamilton College, an MFA From Sarah Lawrence College, and now lives in San Francisco with her family.