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benjamin j kirby

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Benjamin J. Kirby

Benjamin J. Kirby is a writer of fiction, essays, and poetry. He is a communications and public relations professional. Cathexis Northwest Press chose his poem, Train, for their October 2022 issue. The journal Wingless Dreamer included his poem, “The Fountain of Youth,” in their 2021 Spring Anthology. CANEBRAKE, an unpublished Florida crime novel, received Honorable Mention in the 2020 Black Spring Press Crime Fiction Prize. He won first place for his prompt in the 2020 Lewis County Writer’s Guild competition, benefiting the Doyle McKim Legacy Annual Scholarship, which supports writing students at Centralia College. Benjamin worked in collaboration with acclaimed cellist Natalie Helm exploring Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello. He wrote a short story, “The Queen’s Cookfire”, inspired by the music, and read it before a live audience at the Sarasota Contemporary Dance Company. Born in western North Carolina and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Benjamin lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with his his children and his dog.

The Mediocre Chef: Butter Chicken

But I am also a sucker for Indian food, and particularly butter chicken. So we decided to give this a try.

Amelia Dare, Baby Girl Detective: The Case of the Creepy Crawlies

Toby Burnhouser was bigger than Brick, and he held my right arm down. Toby gritted his gums and breathed hard through his nose. He took his job as one of Jimmy’s henchmen a little too seriously. My right hand started to go numb as Burnhouser pushed down harder into the short-pile race-track play carpet.

The Spy Who Loved Me

As a young kid intrigued by spies, guns, and kissing pretty girls, I'd have been happy enough with all of this. But at about two minutes and fourteen seconds in, something dramatic happens.

Roses are Red

I'm not much of a poet. When it comes to what I like with respect to poetry, well, I sort of know what I like and what I don't. I can also appreciate that poetry, when it's done well, is... Continue Reading →

When We Was Fab

Today, you've got avowed, unapologetic racists posing with the president, denigrating previous occupants of the White House.

The Lady and the Swordsman

But the best room, the room with the most detail, the room done with the most love, delicacy and special care was the larger guest bedroom. Why she chose the guest room for this memory, this moment was anybody's guess.

The First Castle

I got caught up in this trying to do a flash fiction challenge. The challenge was pick a random image and write a 1,000 word story on it in a week. Mine was the castle you see in attached to this entry.

I've had a few things moving around in my head for a long time. The last two months, I've been able to do some reorganizing. Call it mental spring cleaning.

Rip Crowley in Fox Osage

The older one released the cylinder and spun it once. Then he tipped it back, emptying the six chambers of the cylinder. Then he let one shimmering, gold bullet in between his black-dirty thumb and forefinger, and loaded one chamber.

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