The Fall 2004 issue of Ploughshares, guest-edited by Amy Bloom. Ploughshares, a journal of new writing, is guest-edited serially by prominent writers who explore different and personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles.

Acclaimed novelist and short story writer Amy Bloom (Away: A Novel, A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You) compiles this fiction issue of Ploughshares. In her Introduction, Bloom looks at the value of literary magazines and her goals for this issue. Having recently heard comments from editors that they were not interested in "emotionally complex work," and that it might help a story to add dogs, because "people love it when you write about dogs," Bloom writes: "All I wanted to do in this issue was to find room for difficult work, for emotionally complex work, for work that didn't have dogs where they didn't belong and for work that loved the word, as well as the story, and believed in telling a story that mattered, in a way that stayed with me, stayed with you, and didn't shy from imagination or get coy about facts."

Featuring authors like Ron Carlson, David Gates, Jessica Treadway, and many others, this fiction issue is an opportunity to explore emotional complexity (with just the right amount of dog).