BANNISTER PRESS

You stand at the doorway to the holding cell, the corridor behind you dark and comfortable, the door ahead just a thick slab of stone, crooked and insistent, sweltering where it touches your cracked gray-green skin.

“The Prisons That Hold You” by Hannah McLaughlin follows Zhiljek, a female goblin about to enter a dwarven arena to battle other magical creatures. Fighting for her life, she attempts to befriend a troll and hatches an escape plan, each choice forcing her to pick between honor and survival, life and death, the person she is and the one she’d like to be.

Hannah McLaughlin teaches creative writing and composition to both high school and college students. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband of fourteen years and their three kids. When she isn’t working, she loves nerding-out about games and fictional worlds, and she gets most of her inspiration from her experiences as a military brat.

How did you come up with an idea for your story? 

The idea of pit fighting has interested me for some time, and I wanted to tell an underdog story from an unusual perspective.

What’s your favourite underdog story?

That’s a hard one to answer. Recently, I’ve enjoyed Kaladin and Bridge Four’s story in The Way of Kings, but I also still love some underdogs from the classics, like Frodo in The Lord of the Rings or Anne Elliot in Persuasion. 

How does your story relate to the theme of “feeling other”? 

The goblin protagonist is different from her dwarven captors, but she’s also different from the other competitors in that she cannot see under the bright wizard lights due to her goblin nature. She has to fight for her life while blinded, which separates her from the others even more. 

How do you keep your creative spark alive?

I write weekly with a friend, and I read, read, read. I never stop reading and imagining and exploring new worlds in my daydreams.

What’s next for you? Do you have any stories coming out in 2025?

I’m currently writing a science fiction short story and will be seeking publication in 2025!

Thanks, Hannah!

“The Prisons that Hold You” is in OTHER: the 2024 speculative fiction anthology, which can be found at Amazon.