dispatches
The pistachio variegations
Back in California, dreaming of gelato. Also: PRONK notebooks!
Xander Beattie
California-based novelist who wrote "The President" (PRONK, 2025). Collector of fountain pens, secondhand books and swimming spots.
California
The tentative, rough beginnings of a poem about being back.
field notes
ruins, remnants
[fragments from Rome]
Baking granola
(A poem.)
field notes
Amalfi shimmers
like the past tense, like a rumour no one is quite willing to debunk.
field notes
ευχαριστώ, Athens
What is left behind. What is longed for. What – maybe one day – I'll return to.
field notes
echoes of sun on water
In a gallery. On a boat. A year apart.
field notes
familiar blues
Swimming in the same places, through similar feelings.
dispatches
Bringing books back from the dead
In this issue: a celebration of recent reprints, opportunities to encounter "The President" in the wild, and a handful of recs.
conversations
“It makes me have zero regrets about not completing my PhD.”
An interview with Brendan McHugh about the collaborative effort to bring "The Butch Manual" back into print.
dispatches
A swimming-pool pilgrimage
On a road trip, paying homage to swimming spots, in late-summer California.
dispatches
Taking care of ghosts
When grief is like marine layer (and: slowing down in urgent times).