LRR 2017, The 20th Anniversary Issue

Letter from the Editor

I refuse to leave the Long River Review. And so I will tuck myself within the pages of this journal forever. I will not get out from under these warm covers, and I will stay here reading late into the night with the forbidden dim flashlight that I smuggled under my pillow. My mom says my reading habit is going to make me blind but I think I can see better than ever with my new glasses.

I am an ugly lump under the blankets. I tuck in every gap that allows the cold outside air in. I follow the logic that I can’t see you and therefore you can’t see me, and that makes me safe — what, there’s no girl here! But I have forgotten that the stories and poems inside this book are not as tame as the monsters under the bed. These stories and poems sniff me out — they bite, they howl, they whimper softly. They yank open my blankets and I suddenly see the river that surrounds me. My bed has turned into a raft and the river is getting choppy, my pages are getting wet.

My mattress-raft is slowly sinking so I suppose it’s time for me to get out of bed and jump for shore. My three years’ time with the Long River Review is rushing to an end, the wild river a constant part in my ever-changing life plan, but it can fit me no longer.

Twentieth edition! The Long River Review’s big 2-0 — and it aptly comes at a time of change, reaching another bend in its path. We’ve cast a wider net this year, reaching out beyond UConn’s pool to writers from all over. The staff, the Long River’s caretakers, have scooped these stories from the variable waters, and this is what we’ve found. This year’s catch is a strange, daring, heartbreaking group of critters.

The river is taking a turn and ejecting me, and my perilous mattress-raft, along with it, but the river churns on. The stories and poems instill in me, its humble reader, occupant for the night and rider of a makeshift boat, an itch to explore beyond its paper. I’m sure that Long River’s next decade will yield more interesting finds. Take care, Long River Review, my fond friend.

–Stephanie Koo

Prize Winners

The Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize
Given by The Hartford, for the best group of poems by a graduate or undergraduate
Anna Ziering, First Place
Brian Sneeden, Second Place
Jillian Cundari, Third Place
The Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction
Awarded in memory of Jacob and Jennie Hackman for the best work of short fiction by an undergraduate
Lilia Shen, First Place
Sten Spinella, Second Place
Jeremiah Dennehy, Third Place
The Edward R. and Frances Schreiber Collins Literary Prize
Given by David and Emily Collins for the best poem and best prose work by an undergraduate
Emma Kraner, Poetry
Breanna Patterson, Prose
The Aetna Creative Nonfiction Award
Given by the Aetna Chair in Writing to support excellence in undergraduate creative nonfiction
Noah Bukowski, Undergraduate First Place
Nyanka Joseph, Graduate First Place
The Aetna Translation Award
Matthew Ryan Shelton
The Aetna Children’s Literature Award
Given by the Aetna Chair in Writing to support excellence in undergraduate children’s literature
Jameson Croteau
The Long River Graduate Writing Award
For the best piece of writing in any genre by a graduate student
Kristina Reardon
The Long River Art Award
Kelsey Miller
Gloriana Gill Art Awards
Alex Brashears, Photography
Jonathan Bartley, Drawing

Staff

Poetry Panelists:
Emily Catenzaro
Sydney Lauro
Autumn Magro
Amanda McCarthy
Sabrina O’Brien
Ben Schultz

Fiction Panelists:
Jameson Croteau
Gabriela Garcia
Rebecca Hill
Máiréad Loschi
Traci Parker
Breanna Patterson

Creative Nonfiction Panelists:
Taylor Caron
Stephanie Koo
Brandon Marquis
Sierra Mazur
Betty Noe

Designers:

LRR 2017, The 20th Anniversary Issue

Letter from the Editor

Prize Winners

Staff

Gallery