It’s been a while since I’ve done anything with this — not helped by the fact that the first iteration of this idea was deleted by Tumblr — but welcome (back?) to Little Free Archive! This is intended to support my position on piracy — that while I understand why people do it, I also understand why authors hate it, and that I support a third option. Show people the massive amount of work available online for free. Not ‘free with a subscription’, not ‘free for the first few chapters’ — free.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that you should take advantage. If you’re capable, absolutely, donate to whoever I platform here. This time around, it’s Y2K Quarterly, a new journal for me that I ran into over on Bluesky. Y2KQ, as they style themselves, are a quarterly dedicated to pieces 1999 words or less, that are about – in some way – the world of the 90s and early 2000s.
I’ve read the first issue so far — there are three currently released — and the microfiction, poetry and CNF on display are fascinating vignettes ranging from fashion retrospectives (Owed to the Six Inches of Sidewalk Scum at the Bottom Of My Pants, Straight As) to complicated thoughts on drug and rave culture (Party’s Over) to early-gamer melancholia (zeldawave and Gamers on the Cusp of a New Millenium). I think out of all of them, zeldawave is my favourite, but I’m also biased as a poet; these are all fun reads, and while none of them will keep you occupied for long (the tragic nature of microfiction) they’ll be on your mind for a while. I’m off to read issues 2 and 3, and I’m excited to see where Y2KQ goes from here.
Find Y2K Quarterly’s website here!
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Elliott Dunstan 