A Sneak Preview of our next feature! fastpoplit.com/2026/05/15/a...

An Excerpt from “A Fading” by Aspen Audley NEW FICTION! It was the first day. I was new to the school, knew no one, and hoped that, with this fresh start, I could shed my usual shy personality and make real friends. The girl on my right had hair as short as a boy’s. She was petite in stature,…

The Death of “Kitsch” IS IT ART? PART TWO Is kitsch as a concept over? It should be. Especially when you consider that the man who painted the above painting, "Murder in Mississippi," Norman Rockwell, was long considered a kitsch artist, and was one of the main targets, along with O. Henry(!) and…

Kitsch or art? Opinions welcomed. newpoplitinteractive.com/2026/05/09/i...

Is It Art? A QUICK QUIZ FOR MORE than 80 years the artistic establishment (money) has pushed a concept of scorn designed to dismiss and prohibit populist art. The concept has been called: kitsch. Most often meaning, what the masses like. The concept, at least the scorn, extends to political art.…

Pushing Back: 2026 to ? WILL LITERATURE RAISE ITS VOICE? PUSHBACK against mad tech overdogs and an increasingly insane society has begun. Along the margins, so far. Among the people. At local city council meetings, citizens raising their voices against this planned technocratic atrocity or that…

Opting Out by Evan Brown (image c/o engineeringdotfbdotcom) Right-wing and left-wing podcasters warned the revolution would start in big cities like New York, San Francisco, or L.A. What the world learned from their daily hot takes and nightly news broadcasts was just how out of touch the…

JUST ANNOUNCED! April's "Puppet of the Month!" newpoplitinteractive.com/2026/04/29/a...

WHO will it be? Selection coming in minutes.

An Excerpt from “Opting Out” by Evan Brown NEW FICTION It started just outside a decrepit strip mall in Jackson, Tennessee. Back in the 1970s, my dad told me it was a great place to shop and eat. I can still see him listing off all the places that disappeared, one for each gnarled arthritic…

Our Nominees for April's "Puppet of the Month" selection. Check them out! newpoplitinteractive.com/2026/04/24/p...

“Sir Peter Buys the Literary World” NEW FICTION BY KARL WENCLAS (image c/o mansionglobal) ONE MORNING financier Sir Peter Plutocrat, waking up in his 57-room mansion west of London, in the United Kingdom, decided he hadn't enjoyed the article he'd read in Britain's faux-conservative newspaper last…

Portrait of a Lady in Gold by Elizabeth Ohga (image c/o lifegatedotcom) The hardest part about a very public meltdown is the day after the very public meltdown. It’s always the after that wrecks you, even though it’s the before that, had it been properly tended, could have prevented it. The day…

“Generous Terms” by John Zedolik NEW POETRY Should I have expected to get the Andrew Jacksons back from those requesting my generosity on dark Saturday nights upon unpeopled streets and perhaps danger too lightly noted in pride of bodily strength and city smarts not smart enough to sense the scam…

Today’s Stressful World STRESS IS EVERYWHERE, and has been in this mad society at least since the pandemic. Move faster, take on more demands, growing to-do lists about cars kids pets schools jobs, keep up with everybody as our screens multiply and costs skyrocket, accompanied by brutalist…

Portrait of a Lady in Gold by Elizabeth Ohga (image c/o lifegatedotcom) The hardest part about a very public meltdown is the day after the very public meltdown. It’s always the after that wrecks you, even though it’s the before that, had it been properly tended, could have prevented it. The day…

An Excerpt from “A Portrait of a Lady in Gold” by Elizabeth Ohga NEW FICTION Penny knows she should tell her husband. She wants to tell him. Maybe if she tells him, he’ll say, “That doesn’t sound terrible, and who cares? I love you and the kids love you and we know you’re a great mom and that’s…

WHO is the All-Time Snobbiest Writer? Please vote! newpoplitinteractive.com/2026/04/01/w... #writers #literature

The Hustle Is Not a Dance LIVING IN AMERICA TODAY In this insane society there are two kinds of hustlers. One kind are the multi-billionaire tech boys painting visual sci-fi pictures of futuristic craziness while scamming in every possible way to pump up their money bubble to further increase…

Casanova Must Die by Dan Shapiro (image c/o wjladotcom) The phone rang, waking Melvin from a deep sleep.    “Did I wake you? Do you know who this is?”  He’d hoped it was Madeline, but the woman’s voice was brisk and abrupt, definitely not Madeline’s. “Yes,” he said, in response to the first…

“The Forbidden Fruit Fights Back” by John Haymaker A Quirky Take on Data Overload, Entropy, and AI When a Microsoft 1990s advertising campaign asked, “Where do you want to go today?” Our minds raced. Possibilities seemed limitless. I just never thought anyone’s answer would be batshit crazy, but…

In honor of #NoKings, "Trump's New Ballroom." fastpoplit.com/2025/10/25/t... #satire #fiction

A quick examination of the Vincenzo Barney article at Unherd. Commentary on postmodernism as an expression of hyper-capitalism. newpoplitnews.com/2026/03/26/h... #authors #books

WE WILL be presenting our own quick take on the Vincenzo Barney @unherd.com article about David Foster Wallace and Cormac McCarthy. Stay tuned!

An Excerpt from “Casanova Must Die” by Dan Shapiro NEW FICTION He sensed a heightened tension in her voice. What did she expect? Being grilled, especially first thing in the morning, was not his thing. He was not a morning person. That damn vinyl siding company again! He’d already told them to…

"Influences" Possible guidelines for our upcoming new #bookreview site. newpoplitextra.com/2026/03/22/i...

“Cold” by Holly Day NEW POETRY I walk down the street putting rocks into my pocketsbecause they’re pretty and I want them, I whistle at the birds fluttering overheadtalk to squirrels, tell everything how much it’s loved, I want everything to knowhow much I love them, everything around me I don’t…

The Literary Reality Index newpoplitinteractive.com/2026/03/19/t... #books #authors

Stormtroopers by Karl Wenclas (image c/o tutorperini) He took the job for the money. From the first day, for Stewart it was go-go-go, like being pushed through a tunnel. Beginning with the Academy, which crammed four months of training into 47 days. A hiring blitz was on. 120 were in his class,…

Our Chaotic World NO DOUBT, as anyone who watches the news can attest, we live in a world and society in chaos. Given ups and downs, this has long been the case. As example we present our new feature short story, "Contact" by Joe Del Castillo, who writes with humanity and heart. His latest story…

Contact by Joe Del Castillo (image c/o ap news) Tuesday afternoon, December 9th, 1980, Blake stepped out of the Broadway and 72nd Street subway station. Glancing at the overcast sky, which began to mist, he turned up the collar of his jacket and cursed himself for not wearing a hat or poncho. When…

Three Possible New Paths for Fiction Writing HOW TO SAVE LITERATURE: NEW IDEAS 1.) NATURALISTIC WRITING Reality. Hyper-reality. Crimes, passion, tragedy. 2.) MULTIDIMENSIONAL WRITING Fast-changing viewpoints as exhibited in this short story, as experimental as anything by Lance Olsen and the…

HAVE AI tech hustlers sold their souls in their efforts to replace humanity, live forever, own the world, etc.? #technocracy #TooMUchTechnology

FYI: WAY BACK in 2017 we ran fiction by D.C. Miller titled "Excerpts From a Speculative Novel." Amazing how spot-on the descriptions of the effects of Too Much Technology are. His novel can no longer be considered speculative. newpoplit.com/portfolio/ex... #dystopian

Our Chaotic World NO DOUBT, as anyone who watches the news can attest, we live in a world and society in chaos. Given ups and downs, this has long been the case. As example we present our new feature short story, "Contact" by Joe Del Castillo, who writes with humanity and heart. His latest story…

Contact by Joe Del Castillo (image c/o ap news) Tuesday afternoon, December 9th, 1980, Blake stepped out of the Broadway and 72nd Street subway station. Glancing at the overcast sky, which began to mist, he turned up the collar of his jacket and cursed himself for not wearing a hat or poncho. When…

“Optional Nourishment” by John Zedolik NEW POETRY Foolish to be consuming a huge juicy pear at seventeen degrees of a mid-January day while the wind whipped so froze my fingers flushed with the fruit’s water as the naked skin burned then numbed in the stripping air young in this year and even an…

A New Report on Big 5 #publishing, exclusively at New Pop Lit's NEWS page. Check it out! newpoplitnews.com/2026/03/07/t...

An Excerpt from “Contact” by Joe Del Castillo NEW FICTION “Oh no, he can’t. My father died a year ago yesterday.” She tapped his shoulder. “Do you think that’s significant? The fact that they died on the same day, a year apart?” Blake didn’t think so and didn’t want to hear some stranger’s life…

A quick new post at our NPL News site: newpoplitnews.com/2026/03/04/s... #books #publishing

“Blessed Are the Warmakers” by Joe Johnson NEW "FICTION"? (image c/o cnn) NOTE: This is not an Official White House press release. Blessèd are our warriors. No nation rises to greatness without great warriors. The Council of Virility feeds our warriors war foods. Our warriors are pure with the…

Checking the news every morning is like getting hit over the head with a baseball bat. #war

Our current feature. "Stormtroopers." newpoplit.com/portfolio/st...

“Notes From a Hotel Balcony” by Joseph Pfister NEW FICTION Who knows what thoughts cross the man’s mind as he gazes upon this glittering, green slice of paradise? Who can map that tangled interior, those labyrinth chambers of his mind? What memories flare like sparks, and which corners remain…

All about #ICE and #Minneapolis? newpoplit.com/portfolio/st... #fiction

Topical Art IS THE TOPICAL POLITICAL? ("Guernica" by Pablo Picasso.) CAN a story, essay, or poem be political without being topical? Of the now, the moment, addressing today's dark dilemmas and hectic happenings? Can an art form truly be meaningful or important if it never does? After all,…

Our current feature. "Stormtroopers." newpoplit.com/portfolio/st...

Topical Art IS THE TOPICAL POLITICAL? ("Guernica" by Pablo Picasso.) CAN a story, essay, or poem be political without being topical? Of the now, the moment, addressing today's dark dilemmas and hectic happenings? Can an art form truly be meaningful or important if it never does? After all,…

Stormtroopers by Karl Wenclas (image c/o tutorperini) He took the job for the money. From the first day, for Stewart it was go-go-go, like being pushed through a tunnel. Beginning with the Academy, which crammed four months of training into 47 days. A hiring blitz was on. 120 were in his class,…

People are running a petition to limit or ban AI videos on YouTube. How can anyone NOT sign it? c.org/VH74DB7Dbt #StoptheSlop