BASS 2026: Samantha Hunt, “Hangman” from Yale Review #113.1

What does it mean to serve and then honor service? How the mind spins when words can have so many multiple meanings. In “Hangman,” rather than feeling lesser or lower in the overwhelm, the constant interruptions, filth and chaos of a mothering that never fits into a clean model of control, I made a piece that is open to these sloppy realities. This is no singular hero’s journey but a matriarchal beehive aflutter, a Petri dish – all the intelligences – of feeding, housing, clothing, cleaning, caring for other bodies. This is the self as a plural. Samantha Hunt: Contributor Note, Best American Short Stories 2026 Okay then. I think she should have stopped with the second sentence, but I’m not the award-winning author here. What this story does really well is follow the primary dictum of writing: Show, don’t tell. We have a mother attending a Memorial Day event with two young children. The contrast is clear. There’s the great tribute paid to those who gave their lives in service to their…

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