The Popshot editors are pleased to introduce the latest instalment of our journal, The Fantasy Issue!

We asked our contributors to write about their wildest dreams; to examine whether fantasy is delusion, creativity or a fool’s paradise.

For The Fantasy issue we sought to nod briefly to “Fantasy” with a capital F, while also representing wider interpretations that go beyond genre; to take in dreams, desires and the human ability to build our own realities however far fetched. This issue includes dark, funny and revealing fantasies, from online dating with a murderous twist, to midnight trysts with Elvis, foot fetishes, prophets and mermaids hitting puberty.

Our guest author is Joanne Ramos whose debut novel The Farm, about a surrogacy service for the super wealthy, has been gracing bestseller lists. In her flash fiction story, So Beautiful, exclusively published in Popshot, she gives voice to the earth — who is, it transpires, rather fed up with mankind.

Whatever your fantasies, we hope you enjoy reading this issue.

Words by Andrea Holck, Beth Lincoln, Jen Lua Allan, Ursula Brunetti, Rowena Fishwick, Daniel Whigham, Sy Brand, Jill Munro, Nanci Gilliver, Michael Dmytruk, LA Pocock, Aarushi Shetty, Carl “Papa” Palmer, James Sapsard, Steven Borg, Florianne Humphrey, Farhana Khalique, Lindy Newns, John Graham Bailey, Emma Levin, Joanne Ramos, Jessica Kashdan-Brown, Anastasia Gammon, Stephen Daultrey, Emma Hulonce, Angela Arnold.

Illustrations by Eric Chow, Cindy Fan, Jake Williams, Esther Lalanne, Ran Zheng, Kell Kitsch, Abi Stevens, Mitt Roshin, Omar Morgan, Olga Kawacińska, Liah Paterson, Denise Gallagher, Rebecca Ashdown, Sophie Standing, Lorna Jameson, Charlotte Fu, Renzo Razzetto, Lottie Liggins, Vanessa Lovegrove, Anna Knopf, Matthew Brazier, Harry Woodgate, Shauna Mckeon, Jack Snelling, Bistra Masseva, Ewelina Rynkiewicz.

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At Popshot Towers, we are delighted to introduce the arrival of our 23rd edition, The Identity Issue

Identity has been the subject of art since the earliest humans daubed pigment on cave walls. It never gets old, however many thousands of years we have been exploring it. Fiction can deliver a universal identity: a portrait of human nature we can all recognise ourselves within.

This was the starting point for the 23rd issue of Popshot. Within this, we specifically wanted to explore how race, nationality, gender, sexuality, family, workplace and friendship impacts on who we are as individuals.

We received hundreds of insightful, engaging and original submissions of poetry, flash fiction and short stories. The Identity Issue is packed full of the very best of an impressive bunch — prose and poetry with important, wide-reaching and compelling messages.

It cuts deep, with stories about everything from teens turning into pigs, to falling into criminality, and a mysterious display of artistic talent by an old woman with Alzheimer’s. The carefully selected fiction and poetry is brought to life by thoughtful, bespoke illustrations.

This issue is about all of us. We hope you enjoy reading.

Words by Brenda Dzangare, Sarah Conklin, Paige Pfeifer, Rikki Santer, Anne Walsh Donnelly, N Minnick, Hilary Otto, Gray Crosbie, Barney Evans, Terry Allen, Teddy Devitt, Barbara DeCoursey Roy, Christian Butler-Zanetti, Sherry Morris, Claire Polders, Brian Winters, Asmaa Jama, Lauren Busser, Priyanka Sacheti, Bev Clark, Amlanjyoti Goswami, Gillian Walker, Andrew Dicker, Anthony Howcroft, Andrew Lloyd-Jones, Ryan Shoemaker, JL Higgs, Jamil Jan Kochai.

Illustrations by Alexandra Espana, Andy Carter, Antonis Papamichael, Aurelie Garnier, Bren Luke, Cat Finnie, Charlotte Edey, Daniel Pagan, Dave Cutler, Daria Skrybchenko, Erin McCluskey, Gianluca Natale, Gus Scott, Joanna Layla, Jen Leem-Bruggen, Leah Brideaux, Matthew Brazier, Matt Chinworth, Partners in Crime, Robbie Cathro, Renzo Razzetto, Sue Gent.