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ESSAYS/Family

My Grandmother’s Hands

Takaya Curlin by Takaya Curlin

As Bill Withers plays in the background about grandma’s hands, I look down at my own. I have my grandmother’s hands. They are small with fat fingers. I once was told they looked like Vienna sausages. I simply…

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FICTION | SHORT STORY

“Land of Milk and Glory”

Jess Bell by Jess Bell

The parents had been seduced by the impalpable sanctuary of a promise. They had been lured by a cool and crisp country flowing with potential. They were to be foreigners living in a foreign land, spacious and fertile for opportunity.…

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midnight and indigo literary journal for black writers
FICTION | SHORT STORY/Journal

“tea at miss daisy’s”

Jacquese Armstrong by Jacquese Armstrong

Many days we passed Miss Daisy’s house and yelled hi. She would…

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FICTION | SHORT STORY/On Blackness and other wonders

“Graduation Day”

Samantha Guzman by Samantha Guzman

Shattering glass echoes in my ears, snapping my head up from my…

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Short Stories

FICTION | SHORT STORY/Speculative issue

“Marjani’s Gift”

Jeanna D. Rutledge by Jeanna D. Rutledge

The leaves on the two maple trees in the yard beamed a spectacular fiery red as the blue bottles that hung from them shimmered…

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FICTION | SHORT STORY

“Für Naledi: The Piano Lesson”

Ndunge Pavao by Ndunge Pavao

“Again! And sit up straight! You’re slouching.” Naledi repositioned herself on the stool in front of the piano. Her legs, dangling, were starting to…

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FICTION | SHORT STORY/Speculative issue

“The Hanging Tree”

Jade T. Woodridge by Jade T. Woodridge

No roads led here, this place like a scar of an old wound. No signs marked its location, no post hung with its name.…

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Featured

ESSAYS/Family/Love

Not Part of the Agreement

Jeannette Smith by Jeannette Smith

My nails kept time on the arm of the chaise to the ticking of the wall clock. I looked at her blankly, no answer to her question. She repeated it. “Do you want another baby more than the life you…

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Essays

ESSAYS

At the Intersection of Black, Queer, and Mother

Azuree Harrison by Azuree Harrison

My journey to motherhood has at once been a step forward into uncharted territory and a step back into an almost forgotten vulnerability. I am Black, Queer, Woman.…

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ESSAYS

You Are The Prize

Tracey Jackson by Tracey Jackson

I changed jobs earlier in the year. It was the type of job that had me jump from plane to plane and airport to airport as a consultant.…

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ESSAYS

Close Encounters of the “Angry Black Woman” Kind

Barbara Bruner by Barbara Bruner

The e-mail message was as jarring as the sound of an alarm clock on Saturday morning. Especially since I didn’t know the sender and was in no way…

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Celebrate Black Speculative Fiction

FICTION | SHORT STORY/Speculative issue

“domicile”

Shakirah Peterson by Shakirah Peterson

I text Alicia that I’m outside and when she responds, I’m already ringing the doorbell. the text was just a courtesy. whether she’s ready for…

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Speculative issue

“Tika Zika”

Tracy Cross by Tracy Cross

It was called “Tika Zika”. They gave us instructions to lock ourselves away from each other. No neighbors, friends, nothing–no matter what. My niece played…

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Speculative issue

“Luz”

Wi-Moto Nyoka by Wi-Moto Nyoka

I’m not good at being a witch. To say that I’m incompetent wouldn’t even cover it. My witchcraft is an amateur cocktail of earnest internet…

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Popular on midnight & indigo

ESSAYS

Once A Mother

by Barbara Bruner

I watched from my seat in the sparsely populated bleachers as the swimmers began to assemble for the first race. Underlying the smell of chlorine…

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Culture/ESSAYS/On Blackness and other wonders

Honey, Turmeric, Lemon

by Briana Gwin

The girl you ask to dinner will never show you her true face. Her deep, caramelized skin is carefully concealed beneath layers of formality and…

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ESSAYS

My Inheritance: A Quilt I Must Stitch

by Yvette J. Green

“I’m sorry for your loss. Though the coroner’s report said your father departed on June 29th, July 1 (2005) will be the official date of…

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midnight & indigo literary journal for black writers
FICTION | SHORT STORY

“Him”

by Chanthany Dechanne

She slid out of the driver’s side of her SUV, not noticing the dark-colored sports coupe parked just on the other side of her. Head…

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Culture/ESSAYS/On Blackness and other wonders

The Language of Home

by Icess Fernandez Rojas

I hear my student say that word and I’m not surprised. I knew this student was going to say it because this student is clueless…

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Culture/ESSAYS

A Prayer to the God of Scent and Stench

by Justin Teopista Nagundi

Dear God, It’s your Ugandan daughter, with the 4C hair. As you know, I was born in Mengo Hospital between day and night. My mother…

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midnight and indigo literary journal for black writers
ESSAYS

In Remembrance of Fast Girls

by rehshetta El-shea

They built a church on the land where my body was broken. Parishioners come every Sunday morning believing it to be holy ground. Yet I…

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FICTION | SHORT STORY

“A Deadly Weapon”

by Sierra Paige

1966 Sweat trickled down James’s forehead. The screaming from the crowd was earsplitting. The lights were so bright around the ring, and he couldn’t even…

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© 2018-2022 - midnight & indigo

midnight & indigo is a small publisher and literary journal that provides a space for Black women writers to share their narratives with the world. In addition to its bi-annual print publication, midnight & indigo publishes stories online and offers monthly writing classes. We are Black and woman-owned.

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midnight and indigo literary journal for black writers

The Motherbaby

My daughter is black. Skin like turned earth. Eyes the…

Signs

It’s late afternoon as we climb into my father’s gray…

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