The August issue of Afterimages is ready. From the 3rd: a massive newsletter, which you’re about to read right now. From the 7th: Interview with Mallory Smart. From the 13th: Book Review by Joseph Edwin Haeger. From the 19th: Fiction by Yuna Kang. From the 25th: Fiction by Stephanie Jones. We can’t wait!
Cody Roggio’s debut book of poetry and flash fiction picks up where his first chapbook left off, around the time when he realizes what the big problem was all along: himself. Also, hard drugs. Also, getting arrested. Also, having friends die constantly. Also, trying never to touch those hard drugs again. Roggio recounts these trials and tribulations from the perspective of someone who has been through them with genuine empathy and with the gravitas of a trusted friend. Sporting a sardonic hindsight and a unique sense of humor (so the thoughts don’t kill him), A Switch Flipped in Me is equal parts funny, sad, cringeworthy, and (hopefully) shows some growth both in himself and his writing. ‘God, grant me the serenity...’
Soft Launch at Bring a Blanket reading series, 8-30-26. Books will be available for purchase. Come out; it’s free!
“The first book in a long time that made me feel an exhale. Cody Roggio’s A Switch Flipped in Me surpasses Step Eight and its demand for amendment and instead enlivens, makes glow, a carousel of stunning obituaries. These stories have the gentle-but-firm stroke of genius that make the mundanity of melancholy appear fantastical. Cody does more than tease hope. He has written something that might preserve someone’s future. The work delivers deliverance to the reader if not the writer, cultivated by an expert handler of lyric craft and unforgettable voice. A Switch Flipped In Me finds the laughable in the cry-able and the cry-able in the laughable. I certainly cried. Even the book’s structure says the scary part out loud, but simultaneously proves the future starts on any given day. This is a collection of forever moments that will nestle in the most beloved coffee shop of your mind. Not a fancy one. One owned by a cool dad. Peruse at will when you need a friend. Thank you, Cody.”
—L Scully, author of Self-Romancing
“A narrator becomes fifty bats. His prom date is Stephen King’s Carrie — don’t worry, she goes on to be the queen of a post-apocalyptic village; there’s a Marshall’s just outside the city limits with candles that smell like your parole officer’s disapproval or your dead cat’s morning breath. Cody Roggio challenges the conventional drug use —> recovery narrative by populating A Switch Flipped in Me with surreal beats, bleak and punishing in their own right, alongside the more severe, familiar story. These brief escapes (cloud chasing cops, every past girlfriend in the same cemetery) begin as relief from the reality an addict is forced through, but soon turn tearful and sincere. The moments outside harsh truth in Roggio’s collection become all the more difficult to bear once the reader realizes they are clearly fiction.”
—Graham Irvin, author of I Have a Gun and Liver Mush
“A steadily compelling and occasionally hilarious collection of short stories. Roggio creates a nice home for the poetics of disarray and has a generous, intuitive way with storytelling. The gritty, casual tone is familiar—it’s like a hometown, it’s like Philly, it’s like looking at Polaroid photos taped up on someone else’s bedroom wall and making up memories to place yourself in those snapshots.”
—Alexandra Naughton, author of American Mary, Sick of Being Inside Myself and publisher of Be About It Press
The press is growing once again. We’re thrilled to announce Jennivev Reyes as our new Publishing Assistant! She’s selected some of August’s Afterimages and is excited to join us as we close a historically successful 2026.
is a fresh graduate of Hawaii Pacific University with a B.A. in English. She is the former managing editor of Hawaii Pacific Review and Wanderlust. She is a Buddhist with a love for all things eerie. Her poetry and thriller fiction have won scholarships and awards as an undergraduate. Residing in Washington state, Jennivev loves working at local coffee shops. Her favorite book is Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.
August is a month for the Sealey Challenge, where the goal is to read 1 volume of poetry every day in August. Last year, when we first did it, dozens of our classic chapbooks in ePDF form saw new light. So, we’re doing it again! Maybe you can grab a discounted book or two on top of all those free ebooks? Click/tap the button below to get started. We appreciate your dedication to all things poetry.
August 22nd is shaping to be a huge double-duty day for Thirty West. We’re returning for our 2nd Fungadelphia Festival in our Philadelphia backyard with some curated titles and a special ‘Fungi + Book’ sampler. Simultaneously, TW is featured northwest in Montgomery, PA, among many regional authors in the Open Air Book Fair sponsored by a public library. Hope to see you at one.
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