Thylacine — Lydia Millet

Prior to the pandemic, we were working on an Apocalypse-themed issue that we planned to release this summer. With so many of the stories we were going to include in that issue focused on deeper themes and questions emerging at this time, we decided not to wait. Instead, we began publishing that work alongside new stories that responded directly to the pandemic. As part of our planned Apocalypse issue, we had commissioned four authors to approach this theme through fiction from the perspectives of past, present and future.  Over the next four weeks we’ll be featuring short stories from acclaimed writers Lydia Millet, Paul Kingsnorth, Sjón, and Ben Okri. Our first installment, entitled Thylacine, is from the American novelist Lydia Millet, author of numerous books including A Children’s Bible; Love in Infant Monkeys, a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize; and My Happy Life, winner of the 2003 PEN Center USA Award for Fiction. This short story, narrated by Lydia, explores historical endings as a man seeks the company and friendship of the last Tasmanian tiger housed in a failing zoo.