Open Ceilings: Summer 2020

by Mechanism Press

The second issue of Open Ceilings literary magazine, Summer 2020: Undergrowth, is Mechanism Press’ first themed collection of short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, art, and photography. In this issue, an incredible intersection emerges between the body and nature. A corpse full of worms in “Vegetable,” vulva sprouting shoots in “My Body Grows,” flowers that reveal hidden emotions in “Beneath the Soil and Skin,” and hydrangea eyes in the Ross Gay imitation poem, “growing flowers.” But Undergrowth has another meaning: the marginalized, the systematically excluded, the understory in the canopy’s shadow—the voices essential to all life within the biome. From “Stained Roots” to “Untitled: A Story of Ethnic Ambiguity,” the pieces of this issue emphasize the Undergrowth, inviting you to know its footprint, appreciate its beauty, and understand its value.

187 pages, Paperback

Published May 17, 2020

Reviews

[C_amara_deriee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I angle a hand mirror in horror to find a Motherwort stalk stretched down my spine, a leaf protruding along every vertebrae. I’m a fool who didn’t learn her lesson about loving too easily well enough as a child, but this Secret Love will stay just that: a secret."

At 180 pages, this edition of Open Ceilings is much larger than the last. This edition has the theme of “Undergrowth,” and many of the pieces feature some connection to nature (though not all!). The beautiful cover artwork is a representation of the kinds of works you’ll find inside: raw and enticing. Many of the pieces cut to the thicket (pun intended!) of the matter—vulnerability, embarrassment, sloppy truths, and all.

"This was before Betrayal sprouted in the shape of a handprint on my mother’s cheek and covered up the Truth—before Buckthorn overtook Bittersweet."

Most pieces come from University of California, Davis, students, and while some pieces are a bit rough around the edges, the unfinished aspect leans into the emotion. This is the first chance most of these authors have ever had to get their work published (even perhaps the ONLY instance some will have!) and it’s a bit astonishing to see such eloquent pieces from STEM and pre-med students. This is, above all else, giving a voice to those who never would have sought one.

I’m not an especially flowery person, but I have a particular love for the short stories in this book. There’s plots you wouldn’t come up in with a thousand years (women’s body parts vanishing day by day; flower tattoos that appear on the body to represent emotions; a spider framed as a seductive figure) and with sixty pages of short story to read, they feature writing ranging from achingly elaborate to brutally blunt.

The quotes in this review are from the short story “Beneath the Soil and Skin” (Admittedly, I wrote this one).

“'You have to remember,' she chides—the last words my mother will ever tell me are nearly drown out by sirens—'that people only take. That’s what they do: they take everything you have to offer. That’s their job on this Earth.
'Your job,' she goes on, 'is providing them something worth taking.'”

Basically, something in this book will resonate with you if you give it a chance.