Top Stories
New stories you’ll love, handpicked for you by our team and updated daily.
What Hope Is There?
The following was an entry for this year’s Hubert Butler Essay Prize. The prompt was “With narratives of conflict currently distorted by misinformation and the substitution of memory for history, what are the chances of reconciliation?” It was originally written in April/May 2024. Please enjoy.
By Conor Matthews12 days ago in The Swamp
Hunt the Darkness
The sky oozed blood red as the sun dropped below the lonely forest and the moon crept upwards. The day was gone and the darkness settled across the empty hamlet. Here was where he had been brought to remove, the great shadow that hung so malevolently over the whole area. Clymold the monster slayer had been called on by the town elders to free the people from the clutches of the creature.
By Simon Curtis10 days ago in Horror
Is There a Secret Message in The Death of Slim Shady?
Eminem's Death of Slim Shady album dropped and had the biggest streaming day of any rap album this year. On the surface, it seems like the thrilling last ride of Eminem's alter ego, Slim Shady, but is it? Is there a secret message in the Death of Slim Shady?
By Niko Banks10 days ago in Beat
Let Us Not Be Boxer
Anya’s grandmother only took her there once. She’d had to claw the way through the bushes, one gnarled hand shoved branches and thorns out of the path, as the other held Anya’s small soft hand. When she looked back, as an elder, Anya wonder how much the journey had hurt her grandmother. Her swollen, knees assaulted by aches, her bare feet must have screamed over the course of the trek.
By Helen Seder12 days ago in Fiction
Medium.com Has Failed Its Writers...It's New CEO Is At Probably Fault.
When I joined Medium in 2019, it was a lifechanging experience. I was about two years out from my mother's death and going through a sort of personal revolution. I was in therapy and looking for a way to use my experiences to help other people. As I hit publish on my first post, I didn't realize I was starting on a path that would lead to a full-time career and a personal brand.
By E.B. Johnson 14 days ago in Writers
Let's Talk About AI and Vocal Challenges
We might as well cut to the chase. Yes, we run every challenge entry through our AI detector; if we find an entry has been generated, it’s disqualified. As Justin Maury, Founder/CEO of Vocal has written, we use these detection systems because we know our readers enjoy authentic content; we also ask you to disclose when you’ve posted on the platform using AI assistance. But a different issue comes into play when we’re thinking about Challenges, and we believe it’s an important one.
By Vocal Curation Team10 days ago in Resources