Philip Canterbury
Bio
Storyteller and historian crafting fiction and nonfiction.
2022 Vocal+ Fiction Awards Finalist [Chaos Along the Arroyo].
Top Story - October 2023 [All the Colorful Wildflowers].
Stories (23)
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Welcome to the Teddy Bear Division. Content Warning.
Welcome to the Teddy Bear Division, Since I won’t be there to tell you all of this in person, I’ll state the obvious: this primer introduces general guidelines. No one of any significance will critique you. No one will reprimand any action you take. Only you can decide what is necessary and imperative at any moment, in any situation. As long as you do your job, you will face no real backlash here. You have carte blanche. You are a ghost. In this light: relax, and have fun.
By Philip Canterbury17 days ago in Fiction
Busy Tone
Earnest’s home sat on 10 acres, and his closest neighbor was a half-mile beyond the junipers, piñons, and scrub brush surrounding him. He’d been there three years after deciding he was done with people—he’d spent his life surrounded by people, and all that was behind him. He had his trees, his acreage, a local golf course, and this house. He’d done his best to love the house, but it wasn't as simple as he’d hoped.
By Philip Canterbury12 months ago in Fiction
All the Colorful Wildflowers (and the humans who witness them). Honorable Mention in Light Breaks Water Challenge. Top Story - October 2023. Content Warning.
Thinking of Dachau; how, sixty years on, blossoms burst from the blood ditch. Grief fades to anger. Rage terrorizes victims.
By Philip Canterbury2 years ago in Poets
Student 58
Anthony Macord closed his leather-bound notepad, stood, and stepped away from the great conference table. He followed Dr. Stephen Gannon into the hallway where Dr. Emily Ackhurst awaited them, a metal clipboard clasped in her left arm. At a hurried pace, she led the Neuroscience Now reporter and Dr. Gannon along the humming, brightly lit halls inside Alacrity’s headquarters to a door labeled, “Study Hall | Observation Suite.”
By Philip Canterbury2 years ago in Futurism
Jellystone, err... "Yellowstone"
Despite its nonsensical timeline, episodes follow the same pacing as Baywatch, but in Montana, so the beachy, butt-centric music video montages have been replaced by cattle-wrangling and rodeo routine music video montages. Also, no one plays a sympathetic character and everyone is a villain—except for Jimmy, the former meth cook.
By Philip Canterbury2 years ago in Critique
Dancing Automata. Runner-Up in the Improbable Paradise Challenge.
Shortly after his invitations went out, Benji, their would-be host, was indicted back home in Britain. Extradition requests encircled the equator. A hotline offered cash for tips on his whereabouts. Still, the striking gold foil invites arrived, each by drone, providing a selected ensemble with the precise intelligence sought by Interpol. Each kept mum as instructed while booking travel and preparing their luggage for the exclusive event.
By Philip Canterbury3 years ago in Fiction
End Game at Fort Igloo
The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in His room. That’s what my epitaph will say; that’s what all our epitaphs will say. At least, on the little tin placard drilled into the concrete beside my catacomb niche – or whatever it’s called. Is it still a catacomb if it’s only for jars of ash? Either way, it’s embarrassing.
By Philip Canterbury3 years ago in Fiction
