Swing Bridge is on the shelves at the following independent bookstores: Shelf Life (Richmond, VA), Book People (Richmond, VA), The Regulator Bookshop (Durham, NC), and New Dominion Bookshop (Charlottesville, VA). In Mathews County, you’ll find it at the Visitors Center, The Inn at Tabbs Creek, and the Gwynn’s Island Museum.

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A Collection of 10 stories by Bronwyn Hughes

Illustrations by Kat Sharp

This intrepid debut collection is set in Mobjack Virginia, a fictionalized community on the Chesapeake Bay during the years surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The stories explore the collision of come-here and from-here reactions to divisive social issues such as Confederate monuments, Me-Too, transgenderism, and racial reckoning, capturing complexities instead of reinforcing assumptions. The setting comes alive with reflective illustrations on natural and historic details, making Mobjack itself seem like a character. Above all, the collection celebrates the richness of small-town life by delving into dynamics invisible to a casual visitor.

Click below to listen to Bronwyn read one of the stories from Swing Bridge!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Fig-Girl (Originally appeared in Atherton Review)

The Kittiwake (Originally appeared in Sinister Wisdom)

Diablo (Originally appeared in Evening Street Press & Review)

Dragon Run (Originally appeared in Hawaii Pacific Review)

Rescue Squad (Originally appeared in Clackamas Literary Review)

The Bel-Mar Blade (Originally appeared in Isele Magazine)

Poplar Grove (Originally appeared in SORTES Magazine)

Sail Forth (Originally appeared in The Quiet Reader)

Hurricane Hole (Forthcoming in Faultline Journal of Arts & Letters)

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