It’s my great pleasure to introduce to you the 20th anniversary issue of Ducts magazine!

Founded by Jonathan Kravetz in 1999, just before the second millenium, Ducts arrived on the scene in the early, heady days of webzines. Over the years, it has published 42 issues and hundreds of writers–many for the first time, and many who went on to write and publish books of their own. We are so glad and proud to have been the home of these pieces, and to welcome personal narratives of all shapes and sizes into the world. And we hope you’ve enjoyed reading them.

In addition to thanking our dedicated editors Ileana Nachescu and Julie Wilkerson, I would also like to thank Lauren Lehrer, who volunteered her time to help sort through submissions, and Jonathan Kravetz, who of course, made all of this possible from the start. 
 
Finally, many thanks to the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (clmp), for their support of this issue in the form of a New York Technical Assistance Program regrant provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
 

Sincerely,

Mary Cool, Editor in Chief

 

MASTHEAD

Mary Cool
Editor in Chief,
Interim Memoirs & Poetry Editor
mary@ducts.org 

 

Ileana Nachescu
Essays Editor
essays@ducts.org

 

Julie Wilkerson
Fiction Editor
julie@ducts.org

 

Jamie Shombert
Guest Arts Editor

 

 

Table of Contents
Ducts 20th anniversary issue launch
Sat, Apr 13, 7-9 pm. Featuring work by Scott Dominic Carpenter, Dorri Olds, Marlene Molinoff, Vijay R. Nathan, Barbara Trommer
20th anniversary issue of Ducts
Featuring Scott Dominic Carpenter, Joanna Clymer, Vivian Lawry, Marlene Molinoff, Vijay R. Nathan, Dorri Olds, and Barbara L. Trommer.
A Bridge Back to Writing
About the art selections for this issue's 5 feature pieces.
Death on Ward Blue
I wish the magic of those first heady days on the hospice ward would not slip away
A Widow’s Bed
Why, I have so often wondered, am I unable to let my bed be just a bed?
The Favored Child
My big sister’s always had a certain power over me.
Miserable Company
There was no hope of a call from her husband now—not in the middle of the night—and she sure as hell wouldn’t call him on her birthday. She continued trolling Facebook.
Too Soon, Too Close, in Paris
You repeat expressions again and again until they’re as comfortable as an old pair of shoes.
Frederic
Every day, when he walked in, my mood lifted.
Sunlight Savings, Windy Hair
Sometime between my birth and the present
May Trumpet Fiction: Death Sex & Religion
Featuring Blair Hurley, Claire Van Winkle & Kris Waldherr. Sat, May 11, 7-9 pm.
June Trumpet Fiction: Short Stories
Sat, Jun 15, 7-9 pm. Featuring Mary Cool, Chelsea Fonden, Janelle Greco, Julie Wilkerson.