"I think sometimes writers conflate short stories with small stories. Stories have to be focused and quick, critics seem to suggest. But what I love about short stories is just how big they can be within a small space. How they can implicate everybody while being about somebody.The stories in this issue of Aster(ix) are big stories told in small spaces, by writers from all over the world. They are also, like Smith's story, both specific and universal." - Ayşe Papatya Bucak