fiction
humboldt fruit
Fat, pimply Papayas cave in on themselves. Sitting all day in the July sun, they slowly implode, succumbing to the gravity of the softening, magmatic fruit-flesh beneath their skins. As they rot they breathe, and my are lungs suddenly privy to a range of rare and exotic exhalations: a 'vivifying' kick of hydrocarbons from a parked Cadillac, a passing semi, and a motorcyclist on North Ave, dying papayas mingling with the haze, their breath hooked and thrown into the air by the slipstream of the thoroughfare. Mr. Turtle over there's doing his share, throwing down a few microns of carbon dioxide for the biosphere- and pulsing, the exhalations of the lagoon itself- its each vast breath articulated in a series of infinite, fragile gasps that make its iridescent skin quake. All this, while 12 fat, pimply Papayas are undergoing a series of tiny miracles called enzymatic reactions below the skin, that will reorganize the chemical makeup of their flesh into an even sweeter, softer, little packet of Paradise. Good god folks, I say let’s all take five and give Papayas a hand!
Their friends the Strawberries are a distinctly snappier bunch. The strawberries stacks are noticeably absent of the paunch and the sloppy atmosphere that’s going down over in Papayatown. In lieu of the Parrothead Papaya Vibe, I’m feeling more like at least one of the strawberries has My Lip Gloss is Poppin on its iPod- and let me tell y’all these berries are popping! Like a photograph of Sophia Loren, a physical articulation of life bursting with the very life it contains- a blazing charisma that renders its physical delicacy, the fragile microfibers of photo paper and fruit flesh a glorious juxtaposition- a moment of sheer genius by the Creator! Strawberrytown is a Mahler masterwork where Nature plays all her faces and then some- deeply serene at the curve between seeds, then explosively vibrant when it dimples and puckers, a pink Fantasia that plays the angelic chords without so much as a touch of rococo posturing- the Venus of Twombly but not of Botticelli! Hello, people of North Avenue! I would like to show you this thing, Strawberry! May I have a moment of your time please? You are allowed to touch it’s miraculous skin, even swallow its music completely!
A+HRRA award summer 2023
The Summer 2023 Arts + Human Rights Research Award will be open to submissions this summer (approx. 14:51 UTC June 21 2023 - 06:50 UTC September 23rd 2023). The topic of the Summer 2023 A+HRRA is AI, Computer Logic, and Human Rights.
th_Eroses, an arts publication www.theroses.xyz, is awarding $100 for a work of artistic / literary research that addresses or concerns human rights in conjunction with this season's topic, AI, Computer Logic, and Human Rights. The term 'research' here is intended to indicate the process of creation, exploration, and discovery, rather than the compiling of archival facts and/or materials, although the compiling of archival facts and/or materials may be a part of the process of exploration and discovery, or a part of the process of shaping the path or direction of discovery. This is intended to be an open-ended premise, to support the range of work that may occur in artists' and writers' unique processes.
From the UN:
"What Are Human Rights? Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination."
https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/human-rights
Successful submissions may, but are not required to, focus on investigative, process-based exploration and material discovery. Successful submissions may couple rigorous (or subjective) analysis with documentation of investigative, process-based exploration and discovery. Submissions do not need to be factual; forms of literary fiction, subjective expression, abstraction, choreography, and/or non-narrative presentations will be considered as well. Submissions in all languages and media are welcomed.
The goal of this award is to amplify artistic voices that inquisitively and critically approach the pressing issues of our time, to create a habitat where a unique form of creative journalism can thrive, and to provide th_Eroses readers with artistic / literary insights into key issues.
Please note: If your work is submitted and selected for the award, you consent to the publication of your submitted work by th_Eroses now and in the future. Not all submissions will win the award; there may be one submission chosen, or multiple submissions, or none of the submissions. Selected submissions will receive an email of acceptance and next steps.
Please submit work to theroses.directors@gmail.com with "Entry: Arts + Human Rights Research Award" in the subject line.