CURRENT ISSUE
AUGUST 2026
Lockdown on the Moon
By Dennis Mortenson
We leave the hotel in mid-afternoon and walk for several blocks in a summer rain interrupted by sunbreaks, the steam rising from the street like the ghosts of literary figures who inhabited this Paris neighborhood. Claire, feigning she’s a Parisian, has brought an umbrella, but I don’t mind the rain. Rain in Paris is ubiquitous and comforting, like kisses on both cheeks.
Claire’s in the mood to talk, as she often is after our trysts, still insecure about our relationship, and hoping to hold it together with the glue of words. Everything around us has a soft edge, as if we are in an old black and white cinéma vérité style dream. We’ve had this same encounter many times; I know what she is about to say. For some reason she never seems to grasp the déjà vu of the moment. Why am I so aware? Surely I’m not alone in my knowledge of this simulated world. Our brains need exercise or we shut down. But that’s not news to you because you’re in your own simulation, maybe just a few feet away from me. I’m surprised most inmates here don’t know that. I’m sure my jailers know that I know, and my awareness makes me a flight risk. But where am I going to go? I’m in lockdown on the moon....
Cover Art by Michal Bedkowski
FICTION
POETRY
Lockdown on the Moon
by Denis Mortenson
Limited Entity
by Gio Clairval
Sentinel’s Redemption
by Calie Voorhis
Her Hair the Color of a Sun-Red Orange
by Rodrigo Culagovski
Here and There
by Lisa Timpf
Fibonacci Pilgrim Suite
by KB Nelson
If the Big Bang Wasn’t by Deborah Davitt
On Conquered Krakens
by Torrey Francis Malek
To the First NASA Computers
by Ian Li
SCIENCE CORNER
ESSAYS & INTERVIEWS
Interview with Steve Davidson
Interview with Tran Nguyen
Aphrodite vs. Palmer Eldritch
by Alberto Palmieri
Quantum Chemistry in Your Kitchen
by Samiha Zaki
THE VAULT
FROM THE EDITOR
Me Myself and I
by William Tenn
Letter from the Editor
by Tristan Evarts
5TH ANNIVERSARY ANTHOLOGY
Utopia is not the end of progress, but the first step on an even bigger journey. Dare to leap into a world where hope defines us.
Utopia Science Fiction Magazine’s mission is to publish stories that shine with a more optimistic future, one we all want to believe in. This anthology collects some of the best stories published from 2019-2023.
Included in this special five year anthology are exclusive interviews with staff and volunteers, introductions to the stories and poems by the authors themselves, and interviews with amazing talent such as James Gurney and Joe Haldeman. This book also includes gorgeous new artwork commissioned especially for this anthology.
Authors Included: Krysten Lipp * Jessica Andrewartha * Penny Sebring Leigh * Kara Race-Moore * Dawn Vogel * Gabrielle Bleu * Adam Slavny * Loren Hall * Gwen C. Katz * Patrice Sarath * Raima Larter * Calie Voorhis * Alex Singer * Karl El-Koura * Timothy Hickson * Mahmud El Sayed * Andrew Najberg * Clare L. Deming * Nadine Aurora Tabing * Kelly Kurtzhals Geiger * Sterling Warner * LindaAnn LoSchiavo * Louis Gallo * Carmen Lucía Alvarado * Christopher Collingwood * Lisa Timpf * Elizabeth R. McClellan * Lynn White * Avra Margariti * Colleen Anderson * Lorraine Schein * Kim Whysall-Hammond * Eva Papasoulioti * Januário Esteves * Lauren McBride * Brian Hugenbuch * Jordan Hirsch * Beth Cato and Rhonda Parrish