304.1 Winter 2019

Table of Contents

The photographer Doris Ulmann wrote of her subjects, “a face that has the marks of having lived intensely, that expresses some phase of life, some dominant quality or intellectual power, constitutes for me an interesting face.” Gary Kelley’s gorgeous cover is inspired by her photography, and the issue is itself made up of essays, stories, and poetry outpouring from lives lived intensely. Natalie Sears writes about the intensity of intimacy and its aftermath in her short story “Waiting for Andy.” In “Dredging Up Wanderlust,” a finalist for the Torch Prize in nonfiction, April Darcy travels to Hawaii with her fierce, inconsolable mother, and they teach one another how to grieve. Brittani Sonnenberg gifts us with two playful homage-poems to Hercule Poirot. Poets Natalie Solmer and Conor Scruton turn away from winter, reminding us that spring will be here soon, in “The Florist Thinks” and “Planting,” respectively. Let these interesting faces keep you company through the long Iowa winter.

 

Fiction by: Robert Garner McBrearty • Warren Jones • Natalie Sears • Sean Towey

Nonfiction by: Nell Boeschenstein • April Darcy • Peggy Schimmelman

Poetry by: Allison Adair • Erica Lee Braverman • Lauren Camp • Peter Neil Carroll • Michael Chitwood • Patricia Clark • Marsha de la O • Luiza Flynn-Goodlett • Rodney Gomez • Joseph Harms • Andrew Hemmert • J. D. Ho • Vicki Iorio • Madison Jones • Greg Larson • Jennie Malboeuf • Damon McLaughlin • Jessica Morey-Collins • Jeff Newberry • Dayna Patterson •​ Alison Prine • Katie Prince • Mira Rosenthal • Conor Scruton • Carrie Shipers • Todd Smith • Natalie Solmer • Brittani Sonnenberg • Michael Spence • Gary J. Whitehead

Art by: Catherine Byun • Matt Manley • Gary Kelley • Clay Rodery • Anthony Tremmaglia

 

ART

Cover   Outside Looking In (inspired by the depression-era photography of Doris Ulmann) [mixed media]​ • Gary Kelley

13   Cold Night in Waterloo [digital] • Clay Rodery

21   untitled [charcoal, photograph digital composite] • Anthony Tremmaglia

25   Waiting for Andy [ink & digital] • Catherine Byun

35   Liars [digital mixed media] • Matt Manley

 

FICTION

13   Cold Night in Waterloo • Robert Garner McBrearty 

21   Two Tiny Pearls • Warren Jones

25   Waiting for Andy • Natalie Sears

35   Buyers Are Liars • Sean Towey

 

NONFICTION

3   Dredging Up Wanderlust • April Darcy

41   A Not So Fine Line • Peggy Schimmelman

45   Or Maybe • Nell Boeschenstein

 

POETRY

9   Avian Confessional • Greg Larson

9   Lastronaut • Michael Spence

10   Self-Portrait as Coyolxauhqui • Rodney Gomez

10   Essay on Granite • David Koehn

11   Instructions for the Last Breath • Rodney Gomez

11   A Fever Of • Luiza Flynn-Goodlett

12   poem in a cold war hellscape • Katie Prince

12   Birthday Dinner • Patricia Clark

12   Love Letters • Damon McLaughlin

16   Immigrant Alembic • Mira Rosenthal

17   My dead husband • Carrie Shipers

18   Whale Fall • Allison Adair

19   Commute • Allison Adair

19   Sanctuary • Peter Neil Carroll

20   Sunfall with Bat House • Madison Jones

20   2525 • J.D. Ho

22   Where the Sunflowers Grew • Lauren Camp

23   A Keeper • Vicki Iorio

23   Angus in Rain • Michael Chitwood

24   And Your Heart Will Race • Erica Lee Braverman

24   Llama Berserk Syndrome • Dayna Patterson

32   Origin • Marsha de la O

33   Thomas Merton’s Final Cleansing • Jeff Newberry

33   [gifts] • Jessica Morey-Collins

34   Nephelometry • Joseph Harms

34   Honest Signals • Jennie Malboeuf

40   Poirot 1 • Brittani Sonnenberg

40   Poirot 2 • Brittani Sonnenberg

42   Trace • Alison Prine

42   Horace, I Dream of Watches • Gary J. Whitehead

43   On the Disappearance of the Florida Panther • Andrew Hemmert

43   The Past • Todd Smith

44   Planting • Conor Scruton

44   The Florist Thinks • Natalie Solmer
 

REVIEWS

46   Synecdoche: Brief Book Reviews • Rachel Morgan

47   Crosscuts: Brief DVD Reviews • Grant Tracey

 

MISCELLANY

2   From the Editors

48   Contributors