Front&Centre

Black Bile Press is up to issue 14 of their flagship short story collection, Front&Centre. Dealing with hard-hitting new fiction, this compact litzine features six pieces of short fiction as well as a lump of book reviews. While co-editor Bill Brown’s inspirational foreword left me a little skeptical heading into the booklet’s stories, I was pleasantly surprised by this highly entertaining selection of micropress gems. The content is edgy but distinctly human, at times touching (Michael Bryson’s “Hercules”), at times devastating (Susan Raby-Dunne’s “Denny and Me” and Lucy Policelli’s “Reinventing Love”), and at times even funny (Salvatore Difalco’s “Proportion”). While people into the micropress scene will undoubtedly want to check this out, I also think it is a magnificent introduction for people unaware of the burgeoning talent that exists outside the mainstream. (Michael Tau)

litzine, Black Bile Press, issue 14, $5, Matthew Firth, Front&Centre, 573 Gainsborough Ave, Ottawa, ON, K2A 2Y6, www.ardentdreams.com/blackbilepress