Author Archives: Darian Araiza-Samples
Issue 45
Fall 2022
Order Online
Digital Issue Forthcoming
ANNUAL PRIZE WINNERS
Jodie Noel Vinson
First Do No Harm
W.J. Herbert
Journal of the Plague Year
Ice Storm
Liminal Passage
The Birth of Venus
Zoe Pappenheimer
Apparitions
FICTION
Kyle Impini
A Song for Mrs. Harris
POETRY
Vernita Hall
The Sol Notes: Dead Reckoning
Whiteout
Jane Zwart
To Shuck Miracles
Certain Maples
Erin Carlyle
Are We Really Living in a Simulation
Marcus Cafagna
Friendly Fire
Lost the Signal
Kathryn Hargett-Hsu
Petition for Naturalization
John Sibley Williams
Heirloom
Skyscrape
Donte Collins
Prologue #9
CREATIVE NONFICTION
Raphael Rae
Introduction to Safecracking for Transsexuals
Hannah Sward
Nobody Wants a Crying Stripper
FLASH FICTION
Carolyn Flynn
A Recipe for Desire
Editor
Laura Newbern
Creative Nonfiction Editor
Peter Selgin
Fiction Editor
Chika Unigwe
Poetry Editor
Kerry James Evans
Managing Editor
Darian Araiza-Samples
Assistant Managing Editor
Cas McKinney
Assistant Editors
Mer Alsobrooks
Shannon Yarbrough
Tim Connors
Courtney Schmidt
Denechia Powell
Unclassifiable Contest 2022 Winner and Finalists
The 2022 Unclassifiable Contest has ended, and a winner has been chosen by judge, Michael Martone!
Winner: “Postcard of Delicate Arch” by Emily Farranto
I love the postcard as a form, and this fiction presents itself as a postcard diary (a collage of postcards) recording a trip west and return to the record of it in the delivered postcards, a scrapbook of postcard messages sent from the writer to the writer. Postcards, analogue tweets, inhabit a strange quasi-public, quasi-private space. They interact with the delivery system as well—postmarks, sorting barcodes, machinery damage, smears of ink—as if the transport itself is making a commentary on the text, aging the age. The text captures the sadness of postcards and the existential nature of the ephemera we all are constantly producing, the fictional residue of the vanished factual living. Publishing a story in a book or magazine creates the illusion of permanence—this will last, the type is set. But postcards (and this fiction) are about things disappearing before our eyes. Sublime evaporation. Sublime. Evaporation.
Michael Martone
Finalists:
Tori Rego, “Erased Pink Eraser”
David McDannald, “Online Dating is the Devil Theorem”
Thank you to all who submitted, for stretching our minds and engaging our imaginations! We hope to see your work again next year!
24th Annual Arts & Letters Prize Winners
Arts & Letters Prize for Fiction Zoe Pappenheimer, “Apparitions”
“Apparitions” is a beautifully written story that weaves together two very compelling storylines and juxtaposes two very complex relationships. I loved the seamless way the author moves between past and present, between memory and present action, and the way the tension grows gradually through small moments in the story, through those unspoken conversations that seem to be taking place between these characters. As the title implies, there are metaphorical ghosts in this story, including ghosts of all of the characters’ former selves, but there is also a very emotionally charged surface story, one that raises questions that are both topical and timeless. This is truly a remarkable story by an extraordinarily talented writer. I loved everything about it.”
– Andrew Porter, Judge
Finalists:
Holly Pekowski, “Almost There;” Adam Peterson, “Stumbledown”
Susan Atefat Prize for Creative Nonfiction
Jodie Noel Vinson, “First Do No Harm”
“First Do No Harm” is a timely, deeply personal meditation on the experience (and ripple effects) of long Covid, as well as a rigorously researched investigation into medical history (and its own ripple effects today). The author writes of volunteering at a vaccine clinic as “an acknowledgement that we are all connected, that our decisions—to get on a plane, to shop at a store, to wear a mask, to get the jab—have consequences on other lives; that to do no harm is never a passive decision, but an always active awareness.” This essay in itself is a beautiful reminder that we are all connected, a beautiful example of an active, compassionate awareness at work. I’m grateful to have read “First Do No Harm” and am honored to award it the Arts & Letters/Susan Atefat Prize for Creative Nonfiction.
– Gayle Brandeis, Judge
Finalists:
Alisa Koyrakh, “The Love of Doing”
Rumi Prize for Poetry
W. J. Herbert, “The Birth of Venus,” “Liminal Passage,” “Ice Storm,” and “Journal of the Plague Years”
“The other selections were great, but I kept coming back to these…they work beautifully separately and apart. I love this poet’s lyric touch. Elegant diction and a light touch with imagery…These poems have an irresistible grace to them!”
– Allison Joseph, Judge
Finalists:
Laurence O’Dwyer, Vernita Hall, Saudamini Siegrist, and Donte Collins
Each winner receives $1000; the winning will appear in our Fall Issue.