Volume 100 Number 1

Spring 2026

Spring 2026—the Loneliness Issue—features work by Kurt Andersen, Jeremy Tavares, Timothy Schaffert, Jamila Osman, Terese Svoboda, Elizabeth Crane, Cynthia Sylvester, Ciara Alfaro, Olufunke Ogundimu, Robert Brian Mulder, Matt Barrett, Milena Nigam, David Hernandez, Andrew Garvin, L. A. Johnson, Alex Tretbar, Alexandra Malouf, Judith Vollmer, Adam O. Davis, Daniel Hales, Winniebell Xinyu Zong, Brad Aaron Modlin, Yosra Bouslama, Rose McLarney, Daniel Barnum, Ross White, Christtie Jay, Scott Cairns, Warren Woessner, Tara Mesalik MacMahon, Jeannine Hall Gailey, Kelan Nee, Edwardson Ukata, Bryan Obinna Okwesili, Chisom Okafor, Saddiq Dzukogi, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil.

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Essays

On the Cover: Solitude ≠ Loneliness
Kurt Andersen

You Are Not Holden Caulfield
Jeremy Tavares

Censoring Prairie Schooner
Timothy Schaffert

Dream Girl
Winner of the 2025 Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest
Jamila Osman

Fiction

Hunting Dog
Terese Svoboda

The Language Police, Empaths Division
Elizabeth Crane

Sundown
Cynthia Sylvester

In the Body of Everything
Ciara Alfaro

The Bird That Cries Mayday
Olufunke Ogundimu

Somewhere in Tennessee
Robert Brian Mulder

The Long Save
Matt Barrett

Poland
Milena Nigam

Poetry

No Self Self-Portrait | Self-Portrait in Awe | Self-Portrait without a Body | Self-Portrait in Terror | Art Majors Overheard after the Election
David Hernandez

Collections
Andrew Garvin

In a Photograph of Me
L. A. Johnson

The Window
Alex Tretbar

Disclaimer of Facts | To N | Now Listen
Alexandra Malouf

The Owls of Piazza della Rotonda | The Tube | Along the Juniata | Sugar Table
Judith Vollmer

The States
Adam O. Davis

How to Win the Spring Offensive
Daniel Hales

A Happy Poem for Today | We Want to Believe | Hi Lenny My Name Is Joy: A Lancaster, PA, Voicemail’s Low-Confidence Auto Translation
Winniebell Xinyu Zong

Your Upstairs Neighbors’ Brass Bed
Brad Aaron Modlin

Self-portrait as Cliché | M/Other
Yosra Bouslama

Gravedigger | the leaf, the blossom, or the bole
Rose McLarney

Red-Winged Blackbird | One Reason Not to Walk into the Sea
Daniel Barnum

The Approaching Quiet | As If to Explain Loss | Worn Down
Ross White

Mother
Christtie Jay

These Few Awaiting Rescue
Scott Cairns

Remember the Red River Valley
Warren Woessner

Because Saleh’s Mother Dies
Tara Mesalik MacMahon

If I Will Be Queen, Let It Be Queen of the Dead
Jeannine Hall Gailey

Feeble Hand | Window Seat
Kelan Nee

The Conscionableness of My Father’s Pride
Edwardson Ukata

But Who Will Tell Her?
Bryan Obinna Okwesili

In conversation with my younger double on the night shift
Chisom Okafor

Like My Dreams Weren’t Made of Glass
Saddiq Dzukogi

The Immigrant’s Very Good Daughter
Aimee Nezhukumatathil