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Above All, Make No Reference to Mysticism

Madison Pauly
[HEALTH]
When their hands met on my belly, Maggie whispered, “Do you want to try it?” I opened my eyes in time see Edie nod. First they lifted my hands to rest on their shoulders, then both slid a palm behind my waist. They rested their other hands on my diaphragm: four points of contact among us, my body the vertex of an infinity sign. Their breathing deepened. We stayed like that for a long time...   [more]

T-e-c-u-m-s-e-h

Nate Kania
[INEBRIATION]
In the last sixty minutes, I’ve learned that her tent just got driven through by a railroad spike, that she spent time last year in North Dakota—“I ride the freight trains”—that the cops in Lebanon know her by name and don’t bother her, that she smokes Indian Spirit cigarettes, loves coffee, and prefers Starbucks. I learn a lot, but as the afternoon wind picks up and forces me to weigh the pizza box down with a Bible (“a woman gave that to me with a dollar inside”) I know I need to pop the question. And I don’t even know the woman’s name... [more]

Kings of the Counter

Lindsay Ellis
[OLD AGE]
John waits for Anne to return to the kitchen. “Do you like jokes?” he asks. His eyes meet mine as I wash down the crisp with a sip of now-lukewarm coffee. He takes my silence as a yes, opening his arms into the diner’s warm air. “An 80-year-old man is sitting on his couch, watching television. The doorbell rings. He gets up, sees a full-bodied woman at the door. You know, young. Smooth. Totally naked.” [more]

Waiting for the Kingdom

by MIRIAM KILIMO
Conspirators in a Secret World

Would You Go Home With a Stranger?

by KATIE KILKENNY
A Radical Former Soap Star Sets the Author Free. Maybe.

Brace Yourself

by KENDALL MADDEN
Two Women Leave Prison

Our Last Dance

by JULIA DANFORD
Another Chance at Prom

Widow of Soc Trang Tiger

by LAUREN VESPOLI
Riding with the Patriot Guard

Going Back Around

by CATHERINE TREYZ
Adventures in Beading

The Doctor Who Fixed Me With the Spoon Was Wearing That Smock

by STEPHANIE BARNHART
What's It Like to Be a Ghost in a Hospital?
Tiny Birthday
by LAINA RICHARDS
24 Weeks and 3 Days Old, and Counting

The Shady Lady

by LEO VALDES
Children of the Transient Motel

A Lonely X

by EVA XIAO
Small Town Speed Dating

Opportunity Cost

by STEPHANIE NG
The Clerk, the Thief, and 
the Broker 


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Volume 1 Editor:
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Kelsey Stimson
Editor
kelsey.a.stimson.15@dartmouth.edu

Kelsey writes. She also enjoys telling other people how to write. She was the editor of Forty Towns for its first and second volume. Kelsey studies English Literature and Creative Nonfiction at Dartmouth. Her short story, Home Ravaged by Fire, won the 2011 Mecklin Award for Literary Nonfiction.


Volume 1 Contributors:
Stephanie Barnhart
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Miriam Kilimo
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Madison Pauly
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Julia Danford
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Katie Kilkenny
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Laina Richards
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Catherine Treyz
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Lindsay Ellis
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Kendall Madden
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Leo Valdes
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Eva Xiao
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Nate Kania
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Stephanie Ng
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Lauren Vespoli
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40 Towns is supported by the Dartmouth College 
English Department Class of '54 Fund.