Nuée Ardente

by Dolan Morgan, Carissa Halston (Foreword)

In her introduction, Carissa Halston, co-founding editor of Aforementioned Productions, writes that "Nuée Ardente" is a story about a man waylaid while traveling by train to see his errant sister. As the delay persists, he becomes more interested in the unfamiliar landscape and his fellow passengers than continuing his journey. In the resultant purgatory, the protagonist comes to recognize that he will age even as his fantasies remain young, to accept that the only way to hold himself responsible for his actions is to leave himself no other choice, and to realize that he both resents and resembles his sister. But despite every drawback, we retain hope. Morgan has depicted disorder and disarray humanely, as characters we need not fear encountering."

About the Dolan Morgan lives and writes in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

About the Guest Aforementioned Productions is an award-winning small press and non-profit organization that publishes chapbooks, full-length collections of prose and poetry, and the weekly online/annual print literary journal, apt; and organizes readings, theatrical performances, and other literary events. Founded in 2005 by Carissa Halston and Randolph Pfaff, Aforementioned’s aesthetic favors challenging writing that combines the cerebral and the visceral. Find out more about our titles and literary goings-on here.

About the Electric Literature is an independent publisher amplifying the power of storytelling through digital innovation. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction. Stay connected with us through our eNewsletter (where you can win weekly prizes), Facebook, and Twitter, and find previous Electric Literature picks in the Recommended Reading archives.


“Nuée Ardente” copyright © 2014 by Dolan Morgan, from That's When the Knives Come Down (Aforementioned Productions). Reprinted by permission of Author.

17 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 18, 2014

About the author

Dolan Morgan is a writer and illustrator and lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Dolan is the author of two books, including That's When the Knives Come Down (A|P, 2014). Publishers Weekly describes their work as "stories that are as bizarre as they are brilliant." Their writing has appeared in The Believer, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, Selected Shorts, The Lifted Brow, The Rumpus, NPR, and the trash.