Who’s askin’? 

Skipjack asks the questions. 

A better question is, Who’s Ope? Skipjack is the fringes itself, the outer limits, the abyss staring back after you’ve stared long enough. Wait—what was the question? Here, hit this.

Conceived in early 2022 at the River Pretty Writer’s Retreat in the Missouri Ozarks, USA, Skipjack Review is named after the phenomenon of skipjack herring chasing lights on the rivers at night. In the fall, local fishermen mount enormous floodlights on the front of their boats and trade fishing poles for fourteen-foot spears. The fishermen are after other fare entirely, but, fascinated, schools of Skipjack hurl themselves at those artificial suns to the point of jumping in and over boats.

All kinds of fish. More fish than you can imagine. Big fish, little fish, red fish, blue fish… fish with motives. Schools of fish—but there’s only one Ope. 

Ope dropped out early. Didn’t hurt him none. Never had much use for single schools of thought. He’s always been a loner. There’s only so much he can do. He’s eager to get down to business. 

Ope’s coming. He’s chumming the water. He’s after our innards—but he’ll settle for our hearts.