The winter edition of our new publication sits in the places where “fiction by women” overlaps with “women’s fiction.” While the reader may see familiar tropes in this issue – a secretary considers a one-night stand; a woman runs from an abusive marriage into the arms of a wealthy foreigner – the work asks readers to go deep into the lived experiences of women. This issue shows women’s isolation even when surrounded by people (or, in one case, babies), their visceral relationship with their own bodies and the ways in which conventional female biology is so closely tied to domestic horror. These familiar themes in the winter issue will challenge readers to think about women’s fiction and fiction by women, and how a stereotypical device can take an unexpected turn that

Pen + Brush is proud to announce the launch of the first literary magazine in the organization’s history, Pen + Brush In Print. After 124 years of supporting women in the literary arts, Pen + Brush In Print further expands a platform for sharing the voices of women writers. The first issue presents short stories and poetry by women from across the country. Their voices speak of cyclical change: the turning of years, the generations who come and go in a house, a town, a life. They speak of lovers and appetite, the laws of gravity, and the unstoppable churn of waves. The one thing you can be sure of in No. 1 is that one thing will be reborn as another. And perhaps that every woman deserves not only a room but a giant squid