June 1st is the 2011 1/2 K Prize Deadline!

Photo by RanjithSiji

Attention, writers! You have one (1) day left to submit your short-shorts and prose poems to Indiana Review's 2011 1/2 K Prize, judged by the illustrious Ander Monson. Submit up to three pieces of non-lineated prose per entry (each piece must be 500 words or less). What is non-lineated prose, you ask? It means, quite simply, that the words extend from the left margin of the page to the right margin of the page (no line breaks allowed). Make sure to read the full guidelines, and then submit away!

JL

dear midwest, no more storms, please!

I've experienced only two years' worth of tornado warnings and tornado sirens, which never fail to terrify me. Friends from the Midwest brush them off, continue walking down the street, say: Oh, nothing ever happens. It's a classic case of boy-cried-wolf. Last Wednesday night, the university issued so many emergency alert texts and emails (Take shelter. No, wait, all clear. Take shelter! All clear. No. Take shelter, really) that I thought it was an error, some glitch in their system.

Well, this time, the wolf hit town, felled the trees, and tore the asphalt.

But we survived (less a car window). Apparently, it wasn't even a tornado -- just "a severe thunderstorm." Our little office is just fine. Now the summer song is chainsaws, leaf blowers, and cranes. And the weekend finally cranked up the sunshine and the heat!

DK

All Things Go

Photo by Robert S. Donovan

Some call it Chi-town. Some call it the Windy City. This weekend, some former and current IR editors drove to Chicago and fell in love again. Here are just a few reasons we're psyched about AWP 2012 happening in this glorious place.

1. The live music—jazz and blues, especially.
2. Family Matters was set here.
3. Quimby's Bookstore has an eclectic collection of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, lit mags, zines, comics, graphic novels, etc.
4. The amazing architecture.
5.The stunning skyline.
6. Lake Michigan.
7. Bennigan's on the loop.
8. For some of us, the joint where you can build your own custom burger. For others, sushi and Jamba Juice. For all of us, the food in general.
9. The good, salt-of-the-earth people of the Midwest!
10. A super exciting event, TBA in the months to come. Stay tuned!

JL

Keep'n It Real

Even though poetry and fiction submissions are closed for the summer, we are still accepting your nonfiction submissions! Need some inspiration? Here are a few of our favorite online and print journals of creative nonfiction:

• Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction
• Creative Nonfiction
• Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction

What about you, readers? Have you read any great creative nonfiction, lately? Please share! 

JL

2011 Poetry Prize Winner

Photo by Robert Steadman

Announcing our winner of the

2011 Poetry Prize

"Because the Birds Came"

John A. Nieves

Columbia, MO

Our esteemed judge, Marie Howe, said:

"I kept coming back to this poem because of the music and the feeling of it and the sound. A hushed transformation was happening, and it kept happening after I stopped reading. It seems like a love poem, not only for a person, but for the world itself (which keeps transforming) and a true song for what can't be said, but can be understood."

& Runners-Up:

"The Sea of Too Far is Unmapped"

Jill Osier

Greene, IA

"The Fall of Communism"

Craig Blais

Tallahassee, FL

Our warmest congratulations to John Nieves, amazing runners-up, and fantastic finalists. We would also like to thank all entrants for your submissions and your support!


dk

I Say Hello

It’s beginning to feel a lot like summer break! Most of IU’s undergraduates have gone home, and the campus is quiet and the lilacs are in full bloom and already the humidity has made my hair untameable. Hello, hairspray. Hello, ponytail. 

Hello, readers. I’m Jen, the new Associate Editor. I am so happy to be here! I’ve spent the past year as an associate genre editor for IR, and I’ve come to know and love this magazine in each of its stages of production: from reading the manuscript submissions and falling in love with the poems and stories you send us, to meeting each week with the IR staff and other associate genre editors to discuss the poems and stories we want to see in IR, to helping review the proofs, to holding the finished product in my hands and smelling the pages and reading the issue cover to cover and falling in love with the poems and stories and essays all over again. 

This past year’s amazingly intelligent and articulate (and fun!) staff  have set the bar super high, and I’m excited for the opportunity to follow in their footsteps. Lucky for me, I get to work under the fearless leadership and expertise of Editor Deborah Kim, and alongside three uber-talented genre editors: Rachel Lyon (fiction), Catie Lycurgus (poetry), and Sarah Suksiri (nonfiction).   

While I don’t love anything more than I love a good poem or story, a good song comes awfully close, and one thing I should probably say going into this job is that I have a small obsession with boy bands. So, what better way to start off the summer than with a song by what is, arguably, the most iconic “boy band” of all time?

Hello, IR. Hello, Summer!

450+ ways to say goodbye

Cheerio!

This is it! No more almost. My tenure is officially up. I'm packing up, signing out, handing over my keys. Thank you to everyone who has made my stay at IR the inspiring, fun, amazing year it has been. Keep your eye out for the Summer 2011 issue, which should be back from the printers in a couple weeks. (BTW, its not too late to order a copy, just click here). I'm super excited to see it and be able to hold it. As more and more things become virtual, only housed inside the computer, its quite gratifying to have worked so long on something that one day I will hold in my hands.

Thank you to all the submitters in all genres, it's been a pleasure reading your work! Thank you to this year's staff! Y'all kick a$$ as co-workers, writers, and friends. Only more good things are around the corner as Deborah Kim steps up as editor, Jennifer Luebbers as associate editor, and our fearless genre editors to come: Cate Lycurgus for poetry, Rachel Lyon for fiction, and Sarah Suksiri continuing the art of nonfiction. Which reminds me: nonfiction will remain open for most the summer so submit your essays, challenge the genre, reinvent, reminisce, re-imagine the splender of our nonfictional world and send in your essays.

Peace, love, and fabulous reading,

Alessandra

If ever wondered how to say Goodbye in Texas, or just about any place in the world, here's the site for you.

Announcing the 2011 1/2 K Prize

2011 1/2 K Prize

NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS.

Send us your short-shorts & prose poems!

Deadline: June 1, 2011. Full guidelines.

Final Judge: Ander Monson