Publications – Fiction and Poetry

Sharif Shakhshir is an award nominated fiction author and an award winning poet. He is currently working on his first collection stories and poems called “The Art of Being Expendable.” His publications – short fiction, poetry and essay – are listed below.

Sad Gravity

Published August 28, 2020 in The Avenue: A Mid-Atlantic Literary Journal.
A waitress reflects on her life by studying the people and things around her as tarot cards.
(Issue VI for sale. Stories are cycled on website to be read for free.)

Holodeck

Published Jun 18, 2017 in Shantih Journal
An introverted computer programmer tries to navigate relationships in a world he doesn’t believe is tangible and real.
(Freely Available Online: Click the cover image, requires Flash Enabled)

The Tall Grass

Published Apr 28, 2017 in New Plains Review
A free verse poem about the call to adventure in Pokemon.
(Freely Available Online)

The Seer and Carolyn

Published Mar 9, 2017 in November Bees
A blank verse sonnet about a fortune teller looking into the future during an intimate moment.
(Defunct Publisher)

Some Thoughts On God

Published Feb 27, 2017 in Mad River Review
A suite of poems that talk about God through analogy.
(Freely Available Online)

Bike Rides to the Ocean

Published Dec 23, 2016 in Zocalo Public Square
A cento poem created from “Hey Ocean!” lyrics to make an artistic moment of regret.
(Freely Available Online)

Almost Special

Published Dec 1, 2016 in Public Pool
A list poem of things that are almost special.
(Freely Available Online)

Erasing & Redrawing

Published Dec 1, 2016 in Public Pool
A free verse poem about pencils gaining sentience from the point of view of an illustrator.
(Freely Available Online)

Gun Chamber

Published Dec 1, 2016 in Public Pool
A free verse poem about choosing a gun or allegorical stuff.
(Freely Available Online)

Identity

Published Oct 31, 2016 in Priestess & Hierophant Press
A micropoem about identity that’s almost the same size as this description.
(Freely Available Online)

Dad’s Ghost

Published Sept 12, 2016 in Remixt Volume 1 Issue 7
A prose poem about the loss of a parent as explored through the “ghost” in racing games.
(Freely Available Online)

Playing House

Published Sept 2016 in Mixed Race, Queer, & Feminist Magazine Volume 2
A prose poem about gender roles in child play.
(Not Available for Some Reason?)

Best Pony

Published Aug 10, 2016 in Razorhouse
A free verse poem written entirely out of questions, mostly about life and cartoons (particularly My Little Pony).
(Defunct Publisher)

Elegy on Unlicensed Nuclear Accelerator

Published Aug 10, 2016 in Razorhouse
A ver libre poem about mourning a lost mixed-raced relationship between a Korean and non-Korean in the world of “Ghostbusters.”
(Defunct Publisher)

Lagomorph

Published Jul 1, 2016 in Matador Review
A short story about a magic rabbit who grants a wish to a divorcing man.
(Freely Available Online)

A Skunk Named Pepe Le Pew

Published Feb 16, 2016 in Roundup Zine
A blank sonnet exploring the loneliness of Pepe Le Pew.
(Freely Available Online)

Requiem for the Temporally Displaced

Published Jan 2016 in West Wind: UCLA’s Journal of the Arts
A contest winning micro-poem about those lost in time.
(Freely Available Online)

The Art of Being Expendable

Published Jan 2016 in West Wind: UCLA’s Journal of the Arts
A prose poem about how to be expendable from the perspective of Laika, the dog the Russians shot into space in Sputnik 2.
(Freely Available Online)

Unicorn Hunting

Published 2016 in Specs Journal
A coming of age story of unicorn diaspora told through the mission briefings of assassins paid to hunt a Unicorn-American.
(Freely Available Online)

Crow Parenting

Published Dec 2015 in Crow Hollow Books
A prose poem about how crows parent their children in a world of beautiful birds.
(Freely Available Online)

Kitten Machine

Published Dec 2015 in Crow Hollow Books
A prose poem about the selling of kittens from a twisted magical machine.
(Freely Available Online)

Waffle Iron Becomes a Man

Published Aug 1, 2015 in Guide to Kulchur
A short story where a broken waffle iron is given a new life as a human, but when the spirit asks it “Are you a boy or a girl?” it doesn’t know how to respond.
(Out of Print)

How to Treat Your Ideas

Published May 2015 in Unbroken Journal
A prose poem to the fragility of the idea and the obligation of the artist.
(Freely Available Online)

Wile E. Coyote

Published May 2015 in Unbroken Journal
A prose poem asking how Wile E. Coyote would cope with lost love.
(Freely Available Online)

First Canine Uprising

Published Oct 2014 in Synethesia Literary Journal

Short story from the future about our times, it follows Roxie, a mutt who discovers that dogs are second class citizens.

This publication is divided between the first and second part of volume 2.
(Freely Available Online: First Half and Conclusion)