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Plain China

National Anthology of the Best Undergraduate Writing

Fiction, Volume XI

In Memory of Atlas Moon

Marisa Barnard

Fiction, Volume XI

Swimming Lessons

Claire Doll

Poetry, Volume XI

Oceanic Oracle

Summer Hagan

Poetry, Volume XI

American

Juan Ortega

Poetry, Volume XI

Orare por ti (I will pray for you)

Juan Ortega

Poetry, Volume XI

Staring at My Bookshelf

Angela Vodola

Fiction, Volume XI

Red Snow

Hobson Wadsworth

  • Fiction, Volume VIII

    Eucalyptus

    Growth, Liatris Hethcoat Wednesday mornings are steam and oil, cigarette smoke and other unpleasant smells, which is to say that Wednesdays are really no different from Tuesdays or Thursdays or…

    2 May 6, 2021
  • Fiction, Volume VIII

    The Gate

    2, Julia Broeker I ran over my boyfriend’s parents’ Maltipoo with my Ford 250. It wasn’t intentional. I’m not a psycho-animal-murderer or anything. I had just punched in the four-digit…

    2 May 6, 2021
  • Nonfiction, Volume VIII

    Not Above the Knee

    Karla with Candle, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Samantha Metzner When I was in fifth grade, I asked my mom if I could start shaving my legs. There was no real need for this—I…

    2 May 6, 2021
  • Fiction, Volume VIII

    For Dogs Have Encompassed Me

    Livelihood, Liza Ashley She sniffs his gun because she knows what gunpowder smells like. She likes the smell. Daddy and me used to take her down to the holler when…

    7 May 6, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Papa Willow

    Popcorn, Karlen Lambert On some nights the pasture and the prairie fire, red blooming, are still, standing straight,  unbowed beneath the biggest  moon, that downglows to the  grasshusks, each of…

    1 May 6, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Whalebone

    Comfortable,  Jihyea Jang By the time we’d uncovered the whalebone our legs were already thorned dusted, turning indigo with evening.  The afternoon spent running through the eucalyptus  that hung in…

    1 April 7, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Tranquility

    On the Edge of the Falls, Sarah Moore An Imagined Theater Scene 1. A woman glides into a bathtub of snow. As her body fills to brim she realizes it is…

    1 April 7, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Larger Half

    facetime, Saber Paustian In ninth grade I made a list of oxymorons. Plastic glasses. Open secret. I reveled in the duality, like holding dark chocolate on my tongue to let…

    1 April 7, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    The Smallest Hearts

    Little Architect, Natasha Hirt I.            Mouse   You run from owls and coyotes, the rigorous bum-bum, bum-bum  of the tiny bass drum  rings through your marimba ribcage.  Little rivers of blood and memories  traveling,…

    1 April 7, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Toof

    Portrait of a Friend, Noah Bavonese believing my mother’s language sane, I raise my hand. perch bluebird-shy on the edge of a desk too nice to ever feel like mine.…

    1 April 7, 2021
  • Fiction, Volume VIII

    Sticky Air

    Hands, Katherine Rogers There was a spider climbing the wall above my bed. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. It was one of those nasty Florida spiders that’s so…

    3 March 11, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Cempasúchil

    Moving Forward, Brittany Lenze Cempasúchil La boca de una niña llamada Flore se mantiene abierta por el  Viento, o un tope de puerta.  En el umbral ella observa Sonidos otoñales.…

    1 March 11, 2021
  • Fiction, Volume VIII

    An Alien Abroad

    Cellular Hierarchies, Effie Jia Dear Mom,  My year abroad is off to a good start. It’s a bit chilly, but I’m told that’s normal for this time of year. People…

    1 March 11, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    The Millennial

    Disrupted Cannon, Colleen Simmons One day we’ll have all  of our memories Inscribed  on rusty USBs.  Our grandchildren can  wear them on chains  of silver and gold  and remember  we weren’t…

    2 March 11, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Negro Paranoia

    Light and Dark, Grace Long I will be shot  by this white man  because I come into  his store every day  and disturb his displays.  I am always fingering  the…

    2 March 11, 2021
  • Nonfiction, Volume VIII

    Las Santas

    Talking Dead, Amanda Stephen “Dios te salve Maria, llena eres de gracia. El Señor esta contigo. Bendita tú eres entre todas las  mujeres y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre:…

    2 February 4, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Mary, the Magdalene

    Geodess, Eric Fram On Tuesdays I am Mary, the Magdalene  with wrinkled skirts and bruised vagina. I hide in The Tomb and hold onto things until they cut into my hands…

    3 February 4, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    20 Questions

    A Better World is Possible, Ernest Volynec I think what I wonder is what is your mother tongue? What words have you forgotten? Who taught you to answer a question from…

    1 February 4, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Haibun For Womxn Who Are Told to Forgive

    Disrupted Cannon, Colleen Simmons The old church. Pastor X hits the podium until he beats forgiveness into our mouths. The word coats the tongue like a caramel in the heat.…

    1 February 4, 2021
  • Fiction, Volume VIII

    Maple Leaf

    Junglescape, Meagan Dwyer I was 5 years old when I learned how to pronounce my mother’s name. I’d started to learn enough letter sounds in kindergarten to string a few…

    1 February 4, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    PrEP Kabuki

    Planet, by Karolina Klonowska     When burial. When banquet. When meadow & its scroll of frailty. When viewing anatomical cross-sections of my lymphatic system, I imagine a finch blooding  toward…

    1 January 9, 2021
  • Poetry, Volume VIII

    Crude Oil

    Pins and Needles, Kamron Williams     the Earth didn’t have a cunt, so the men dug one out for her. they were delighted by the black gold ejaculate, and proud…

    0 January 9, 2021
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