LRR 2011

Letter from the Editor

“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.”
–Rainer Maria Rilke

We are here and we are shrieking; can you hear us?

The Long River Review is an organic being. It is good for your body, and it is made out of feelings. The poems, stories, essays, and artwork you are about to digest were composed by voices of this generation that are trying profoundly to feel. In reading these creative works, I suggest visual digestion; let your synapses get a little sloppy between lines and allow your palate to bloom in lexical delight.

As editors and readers, we are trying to feel, too. When we selected pieces for publication, we chose the ones that moved us most. We found the strongest voices and put them on these pages. Although we didn’t set out looking for a themed issue, you may notice a wavering strand of something holding these voices together. Everyone is falling apart a little. You will read about mental disarray, loss, threesomes, and asylums—of dreaming, spells, war, and tea leaves. There is a collective, honest voice here, and it experiences everything to the fullest extent. As artists, many of us have suffered; we are amidst an economic depression, and a myriad of crimes against humanity are hitting our souls hard. It is art that feeds our souls, and so I offer you up this morsel.

I do a lot of shrieking, and I try to bloom as recklessly as possible. I’m still searching for the heart of the night. You’ll be hearing more from me, but if you don’t, remember that I was here.

–Joe Welch

Prize Winners

The Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize
Given by The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., for the best group of poems by a graduate or undergraduate
Rebecca Putman, First Prize
Timothy Stobierski, Second Prize
Nicole Rubin, Third Prize

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
Carolyn Shefcyk, First Prize
Ryan Mclean, Second Prize
Miranda DePoi, Third Prize

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
Colleen Lynch, Prose
Nicole Rubin, Poetry

The Aetna Undergraduate Creative Nonfiction Award
Given by the Aetna Chair in Writing to support excellence in undergraduate creative nonfiction
Ryan O’Connell, First Prize
Kerri Brown, Second Prize

The Long River Graduate Writing Award
For the best piece of writing in any genre by a graduate student
Michael Pontacoloni, Poetry

The Long River Art Award
Sandy Honig, Photography

Gloriana Gill Art Awards
Caroline Palumbo, Photography
Sarah Parsons, Illustration