Coal Hill Review – an imprint of Autumn House Press

The 29th issue of Coal Hill Review examines a kaleidoscope of loss and the ways in which people face their realities and reckon with them. From fiction that explores the loss of innocence to nonfiction that records the fracturing of communities as old ways of existing clash with new ideas, and poetry that moves across thresholds and states of being, this issue traverses wide scopes of emotion with clarity and poignancy. Our pieces examine flaws and failures with open arms, and while there may not always be solutions to the ways people harm themselves or others, each work brings forth a cathartic expression of creativity in the face of decay.

Dairy Farms

By Gary Fincke | Nonfiction

I owned an Omni once, a car so unreliable I carried quarts of oil like passengers. Worse, I was afraid to leave it parked outside on a rainy day for fear it wouldn’t start. Which means the morning was clear when I allowed that car to rest beside a field where dozens of dairy cows grazed among a scattering of discarded Omnis, confirming a friend’s late-night, beer-soaked story.