The Journal
Contents
Editor’s Note
Fiction
What It Is
by Reyumeh Ejue
Everything Must Go
The Submariner Signs Off
by Alex Ralph
The Garden
Essays
Convergence
by Rilla Askew
Outro
she didn’t let her tell her that she loved her . . .
Exercises in Style
What Is Given
by Diane Comer
The Tongue Remembers
As the Crow Flies
by Lia Purpura
Core Samples, or, Experiments with Days
by Lia Purpura
Storycatcher
by Lia Purpura
Emmerich’s Wounds
Poetry
The Order of Things
The Sixth Combat
Night of the Iguana
Picture Postcard from a Hole in the Garden
by Bruce Bond
How Senior Living Lets Us Know Someone Has Died
by Fleda Brown
Flight of Ideas
Crisis
The war headline says
This Is a Fish
by Majda Gama
Thin Ice
by James Geary
from They pass through, and see through us
Translated from the French by Susanna Lang
First Love
by Alen Hamza
Florida Is a Place on Earth
by Siew Hii
Florida Is a Place on Earth with Very Broad Open-Records Laws
by Siew Hii
The Boys’ Room
Let Me Put It This Way
Interior Scroll
Salvage
by Susan Nguyen
So Much of This Life
by Susan Nguyen
Prime
Power
Breakfast
The Guessing Game
by Josh Tvrdy
Knife for Decisively Cutting Off Floating Clouds
by Yan An
Translated from the Chinese by Chen Du and Xisheng Chen
Sometimes Someone Is Only a Shadow
by Yan An
Translated from the Chinese by Chen Du and Xisheng Chen
Crisis and talismans. The threaded objects of Lia Purpura front an issue intent on noticing, holding, and putting forward. Siew Hii, Carl Phillips, and Denise Duhamel (in poetry) and Donald Quist and Rilla Askew (in nonfiction) confront the wiliness of false narrative. Stories by Scholastique Mukasonga (translated by Mark Polizzotti) and Niamh Mac Cabe, with poems by Megan Fernandes and Fereshteh Sari, trace the veins of complicity. And stories by Subhravanu Das and Reyumeh Ejue, with poems by Brenda Hillman, Kimberly Quiogue Andrews, and Peter Balakian, discover honest, tenuous shelter.
Editor
William Pierce
William Pierce
Senior Editor
Shuchi Saraswat
Shuchi Saraswat
Senior Fiction Editor
Mary O'Donoghue
Mary O'Donoghue
Senior Poetry Editor
Jennifer Kwon Dobbs 허수진
Jennifer Kwon Dobbs 허수진
Poetry Editor
Jessica Q. Stark
Jessica Q. Stark
Nonfiction Editors
Sven Birkerts, editor emeritus
George Estreich
Sven Birkerts, editor emeritus, George Estreich
Asst. Fiction Editors
Ben Black
Ariel Courage
Koye Oyedeji
Ben Black, Ariel Courage, Koye Oyedeji
Assoc. Poetry Editor
Esteban Rodríguez
Esteban Rodríguez
Asst. Poetry Editors
Dorsey Craft
Rachel Mennies
Issam Zineh
Dorsey Craft, Rachel Mennies, Issam Zineh
Blog Editors
Ryan Choi
Grace Singh Smith
Ryan Choi, Grace Singh Smith
Reviews Editor
Rachel Mennies
Rachel Mennies
Editors At Large
Julia Brown
Jenny George
Julia Brown, Jenny George
Newsletter Director
Arielle Kaplan
Arielle Kaplan
Promotions Director
Alison Lanier
Alison Lanier
Social Media (Bluesky)
Esteban Rodríguez
Arielle Kaplan
Esteban Rodríguez, Arielle Kaplan
Social Media (Instagram)
Emma Claire Everett
Emma Claire Everett
Editorial Assistants
Lachlan Bowden
Natalie Curthoys
Rachel Harrison
Meredith Olsson
McClain Shaw
Lachlan Bowden, Natalie Curthoys, Rachel Harrison, Meredith Olsson, McClain Shaw
Founding Editor
Askold Melnyczuk
Askold Melnyczuk
Advisory Board
Leslie Epstein, in memoriam
Ha Jin
Robert Pinksy
Rosanna Warren
Leslie Epstein, in memoriam, Ha Jin, Robert Pinksy, Rosanna Warren
Contributing Editors
Sumita Chakraborty
John J. Clayton
Stuart Dischell
Jennifer Alise Drew
Sharon Dunn, editor emerita
Anne Germanacos
Marie Howe
Alex Johnson
Dana Levin
Fred Marchant
Gail Mazur
Fiona McCrae
Dzvinia Orlowsky
E. C. Osondu
Lia Purpura
George Scialabba
Tom Sleigh
Sue Standing
Oksana Zabuzhko
Sumita Chakraborty, John J. Clayton, Stuart Dischell, Jennifer Alise Drew, Sharon Dunn, editor emerita, Anne Germanacos, Marie Howe, Alex Johnson, Dana Levin, Fred Marchant, Gail Mazur, Fiona McCrae, Dzvinia Orlowsky, E. C. Osondu, Lia Purpura, George Scialabba, Tom Sleigh, Sue Standing, Oksana Zabuzhko
Typesetting & Design
Gian Lombardo / Quale Press
Gian Lombardo / Quale Press