200 pages.

In the Fall 2013 issue, ZYZZYVA asks: Having kids—what could possibly go wrong?

In Eric Puchner’s “Heavenland,” a stalled L.A. artist finds his style—and his relationships—severely cramped after the birth of his son.

In Vanessa Hua’s “A River of Stars,” a pregnant mistress in Southern California is cornered by the wishes of her married lover in China.

In Nana K. Twumasi’s “Pica,” a widowed father tries to make sense of his young daughter’s troubling eating compulsion.

And in Kate Milliken’s “A Matter of Time,” a suburban mother hopes a dinner party with an old and successful friend can salvage her dreams.

Plus stories from Kirsten Chen (on a Singapore teen’s complex bond with her family’s Filipina maid), Kimberly Lambright (in which a direct connection is made between a foundering marriage and God’s angst), and Southern great Elizabeth Spencer (on a family wedding serving as the wistful homecoming for a divorced cousin).

There’s also new verse from acclaimed poets Zubair Ahmed, David Biespiel, Rebecca Foust, John Glowney, Miriam Bird Greenberg, Diane K. Martin, Annie Mascorro, Jill Osier, Jacques J. Rancourt, and Caitlin Vance, as well as a portfolio of work from the outstanding Dean Rader.

In nonfiction, Anne Raeff ‘s “Lorca in the Afternoon” offers a requiem for a once estranged, anger-filled ex-boyfriend. And we introduce new writer Rosie Cima and her story (“Going Solo”) of a solitary young man haunting the neighborhoods and bus lines of Buenos Aires.

And featuring the work of artists Vanessa Marsh and Devri Richmond.