"I Probably Shouldn’t Tell You This": A Collection of Secrets in Poetry & Prose

by BarBar et al., Xine Rose (editor), Cory Nolan (editor)

Fluctuating between whispered affirmations of love and gloriously outrageous the-plane-is-going-down style confessionals, this rollicking collection of weird tales and weirder characters illuminates the parts of us that hide, buried in the marrow of our bones, camouflaged in the sinewy fibers between our muscles, and lurking amongst a forest of ribs. This is the kind of stuff you don’t say out loud…and the kind that you shouldn’t but do anyway.

This anthology, comprised of forty-one new works from thirty-one emerging authors, deals with the secrets we bury deep within ourselves, the ones that boil in our bellies, cook us from the inside, and bubble up at the surface, and our soul's compulsion toward revelatory transfiguration. In this collection, you will find admissions of hidden affection, sinister family mysteries, and contrarian hot takes. You will meet characters with long-harbored personal secrets, others damned with regret, and even one humorously paranoid conspiracy theorist.

In this Volume, you will find the poetry and prose of Abby Hosterman, Callie Jean Crouch, Doug Jacquier, Hugh Findlay, Thomas J. Misuraca, Sebs Corrigan, Amelia Wright, Kristen Sirianni, Kristi Rabe, Hyun Woo Kim, Rhiannon Conley, Thomas Lambert, MJ McGinn, Charlotte Sabina, Maggie Bowyer, J.B. Polk, Jaden Fong, Janelle Cordero, Ruth Brown, Lola Jude, Bee LB, Megan Dense Mealor, James A.C. Clark, Stewart D. Arend, Sophie Hoss, T. Lambright, Gabriel Noel, JM Huscher, Cory Henniges, Holly Trusiak, and A.G. Travers.

155 pages, Paperback

Published December 20, 2023

About the author

To our readers:

We publish fresh takes, original voices, pieces that provoke, inspire and nourish, and some that are just damn weird. We aspire to have a library so eclectic—whether you’re a romantic, a bookworm, or a genre junkie looking for an escape from the humdrum—you’ve got a home away from home in BarBar.

What are you waiting for? Say goodbye to that one-size-fits-all world that tells you to be a good little straight-ticket-voter, to think what they tell you to. You’re too complex to be boxed in by pop culture expectations, political agendas, corporate ratings, or click-bait fueled algorithms.

To Our Contributors:

We derive our name, BarBar from the onomatopoeic word Barbaros, which the ancient Greeks used pejoratively to describe what they considered the unintelligible, uncivilized sounds of foreign tongues. Does this air of condescension sound familiar? Literature has long been imprisoned by prestige and pretension. Locked inside the stuffy halls of Academia, it has suffered vivisection at the hands of those with complacent minds and privileged positions. Well, this is a jailbreak. We’re reclaiming literature and giving it back to you. So, crack the door, let god in, and start writing. Write every day. Write compulsively – with passion. Throw away the formulas and plot diagrams. Give us your voice unfiltered. Let your little bird sing. Be yourself. Be strange. Be honest. Be BarBar.

Reviews

[Gabriel Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok actual review time now.

This was a delight to read and yes I'm a little biased because I'm in this but reading about little secrets and hushed whispers is so thrilling.
This is chock full of poetry, prose, short stories, and beautifully illustrations.

Definitely worth picking up a copy!