When I first read through “Nice Little Blonde Girl” by Emma McMain, my gut told me this was the one. Drowned in what seemed like a lifetime of submission reading already, I was one of the initial readers on this piece of nonfiction. Among my group, I was known to be one of the harsher… Continue reading

Off the bat, the head note sets the mood for the repetition of ‘not responsible’ that follows,“Sign on the back of a gravel truck: NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR BROKEN WINDSHIELDS.” Gravel trucks or dump trucks often have signs stating a disclaimer to stay back and drivers who overlook this warning could end up with cracked windshields… Continue reading

In my time as the lead editor for visual arts, my group and I meticulously went through many art submissions. I had made it a rule for myself to never jump on a piece and defend it with all of my heart. I felt that doing this would cloud my judgment and I would not… Continue reading

This is a piece in thirty-six fragments that illustrates a person’s self-growth, breaking the constraint and expectations of cages. We use cages to confine something that is either precious or dangerous; sometimes it’s both. But there are invisible cages as well, some that we have the opportunity to leave but feel as though it’s not… Continue reading

This poem is a beautiful reflection on identity and compassion that highlights the nuance and intricacies of race and culture that can never be fully understood by those who do not experience it first hand. From the opening alone it shows that although this is about a young white boy’s understanding of race, it is… Continue reading

The piece The Divorce I-III by Juned Subhan, a poem collection, consists of three poems taking the readers through the mindset of a women being divorced. I personally connected with this piece emotionally, which wasn’t something that happened with all other pieces. The subject being centered around divorce allows readers who may be going through… Continue reading

The poem “Daughterhood” by Katharine Kistler reads like a movie playing in your head as images and details flow seamlessly from one line to the next. Reading this piece makes you feel like you are right there, following just behind this child-parent pairing in the poem, watching their every move happen in real time. Kistler’s… Continue reading

This flash creative nonfiction piece takes place in the past, yet is written in present tense. Mangold is telling a story which captures a brief scene from her childhood, yet with her diction this scene is elongated in such way that the three main characters—the author and her parents—are uniquely described and their personalities strongly… Continue reading

Tori Morrow’s “Run Away, Girls” was a gem-encrusted needle in the huge prose haystack I was assigned to read in this round of reviews. A thread seemed to pull me through, preventing me from stepping away. I consumed this piece happily, so engrossed that I didn’t notice the passage of time around me when I… Continue reading

Grief is one of the most common subjects in poetry, and while poems of grief can be incredibly poignant, reading a succession of them during a submission period can dull their impact. A well-done poem about loss is able to use poetic devices to expose the feeling in a new way that still connects with… Continue reading