Archive for April, 2024

Why We Chose It: “Interiors” by Leah Yacknin-Dawson

By Katie Worden, Editorial Assistant

Against the backdrop of Chicago, Leah Yacknin-Dawson unfolds a story of grief, pain, and love—probing the limits of each. “Interiors,” indeed, relishes the inner. It is defined by the introspective eye of its narrator, Anna, who renders her emotional landscape with as much detail and acuity as she does the outside world. The present moment of this story is short—an afternoon in the Museum of Contemporary Art—but, through Anna’s narration, becomes something expansive. Each memory or moment of introspection opens unto its own world, not unlike the artwork that Anna so carefully scrutinizes as she browses the MCA galleries. Through this deft manipulation of narrative structure, the present problem of the story—whether Anna and her sister should visit the deathbed of their mother’s abusive ex-partner—is weighted by memory made immediate. We are made witness to love and violence’s frightening overlap, to the confusion our characters find therein.

With striking prose, Dawson draws us into this uncertain world. We see this uncertainty in Anna’s tendency to define herself against and around her sister, and we see it in the story’s final image, rendered through dialogue: “‘You can’t see it, but the Sears Tower is just behind the clouds. . . . You can’t see it, but it’s there.’” The weight of things unseen, the promise of the horizon. “Interiors,” too, points toward something almost palpable, but just out of reach—an easy way out, an answer, a definition. I was reminded, here, of a line written by Elena Ferrante: “Unlike stories, real life, when it has passed, inclines toward obscurity, not clarity.” Dawson’s story is real life, or as close as it gets.

 

Leah Yacknin-Dawson’s “Interiors” appears in our new Spring 2024 Issue 115.

Subscribe today to read more!

Katie Worden is a fiction writer and second-year MFA student from New York. She is a recipient of the Fred Chappell Fellowship and the Jiménez-Porter Literary Prize. In addition to teaching undergraduate writing and composition, she currently serves as an editorial assistant for The Greensboro Review.

Springtime Listening: Poetry Playlist for Issue 115

By Calista Malone, Poetry Editor

One of the things that connects me to poetry, or rather gets me writing, is music. Maybe it’s the melody that helps stir a rhythm in me that must be written down in stanzas. Maybe it’s one great lyric that sets me off down a road to create something completely new. In short, music is inspiring for me and I think it is for many. Poetry (and maybe writing more generally) has a long history with music. It’s no coincidence icon Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature. I’ve created a playlist around each of the poems in issue 115. The songs in this playlist were chosen for a variety of reasons, some of which I’ve shared, some for which the listener can decide the connection for themselves. Happy listening!

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Ej3fdZrQhSBZa7p9znRq1?si=c8b4f7ea039741e4

Subscribe today to read more of our new Spring 2024 Issue 115!

 

“February: A Dictionary” by Weijia Pan

“The Parting Glass” by boygenius, Ye Vagabonds

When considering sound, I originally chose this cover of the High Kings’ song by boygenius (an American indie band) and Ye Vagabonds (an irish indie band) because I liked how the music made me slow down my reading, but what really spoke to me was the natural glide between the themes of the poem and the song. Many might recognize the melody of “The Parting Glass” from the classic and well known tune, Auld Lang Syne, but it was actually “The Parting Glass” that predated Robert Burns’ poem. Since Auld Lang Syne and “The Parting Glass” primarily deal with remembering and the sending of one on a new journey, it naturally aligned with this poem that remembers February and the speaker’s own heritage and family.

 

“Conversations In Heaven” by Suphil Lee Park

“Ya’aburnee” by Halsey

I was originally drawn to this pairing because I thought the tenderness of Halsey’s ballad complemented the slow aching of Park’s poem. As I looked more closely at the text of the poem and the song, I realized these two pieces of art deal with similar themes of love and the afterlife. Both begin by addressing that love is not easy, or as the speaker of the poem says, “love is a simple hassle.” Then they both move into the natural world: conversation with the monarchs and Ya’aburnee with images of the moon and tides. Halsey moves from these images and presses on to address the love of the speaker. Park’s poem sets off a stanza that finds the imperative with “Look” and “See.” Finally, the song and poem both deal with mortality. Park promises a “heaven at the foot of a cooling tub” and Halsey’s song lingers before heaven with death:

I think we could live forever
In each other’s faces ’cause I
Always see my youth in you
And if we don’t live forever
Maybe one day we’ll trade places
Darling, you will bury me
Before I bury you
Before I bury you.

 

“Am I a Bad Mother:” by Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach

“Hey Ma” by Bon Iver

 

“Case Study” by Nik Moore

“Seeds” by Yoke Lore

 

“Pig Therapist” by Mark Spero

“The Sunshine” by Manchester Orchestra

 

“Funicular” by Martha Paz Soldan

“Boys of Summer” covered by First Aid Kit

 

“Valentine’s Day with My Octopus Lover” by Benjamin S. Grossberg

“Olivia” by Wolves of Glendale

 

“Cock” by Max Seifert

“Pyotr” by Bad Books

 

“Prime Rib Resting” by Jacob Schepers

“Simmer” by Hayley Williams

 

“Alternative Reality” by Ugochukwu Damian Okpara

“Ceilings” by Lizzy McAlpine

 

“History of the World” by Caitlyn Klum

“Edge of the World” by the Beaches

 

“Demigod” by C. Dale Young

“Too Many Gods” by A$AP Rocky, Joey Bada$$

 

“Palmistry” by Michael Waters

“Linger” by the Cranberries

 

Calista Malone is a second-year poet from the North Florida panhandle. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Auburn University. Her poems have appeared in Gulf Stream Magazine, Naugatuck River Review, Saw Palm, and elsewhere. She currently serves as a Poetry Editor for The Greensboro Review.