The following submissions were selected by our editors to highlight pieces we felt demonstrated exceptional quality, form, and execution.
overall editors' pick
Growth Mindset
by Kolbe Riney
(Poetry)
by Kolbe Riney
(Poetry)
The fungus inside my brain is saying we should start a band, and we should call it growth
mindset. We’ll play songs about lichens and other maybe-painfully-symbiotic organisms and
occasionally some slimy things people think are gross, and when we come onstage we’ll scream
into the microphone, “this one goes out to all the Serratia out there who really like to spend their
time in wet shower corners!” and everyone will cheer. We’ll make lots of jokes about damp
living environments until it gets a little old, and all of our equipment will be brown. Our band
merch is little plushies of Pseudomonas with tiny cute faces and Petri dish drawings of the tour
dates. We’ll wear those little custom ear pieces that all the big rockstars wear, but instead ours
will be some species of mushroom, and when we reach the climax of the song, they’ll release
little spore clouds into the audience and make them all go wild. Your mom will come to our
shows and afterwards she’ll tell us there’s a speck of mold on the drum kit, and we’ll tell her
that’s how penicillin was discovered. We end the show by kissing every one of our fans full on
the mouth, with tongue. We’ll tell them it’s important to not be afraid. We’ll tell them we can
share everything.
mindset. We’ll play songs about lichens and other maybe-painfully-symbiotic organisms and
occasionally some slimy things people think are gross, and when we come onstage we’ll scream
into the microphone, “this one goes out to all the Serratia out there who really like to spend their
time in wet shower corners!” and everyone will cheer. We’ll make lots of jokes about damp
living environments until it gets a little old, and all of our equipment will be brown. Our band
merch is little plushies of Pseudomonas with tiny cute faces and Petri dish drawings of the tour
dates. We’ll wear those little custom ear pieces that all the big rockstars wear, but instead ours
will be some species of mushroom, and when we reach the climax of the song, they’ll release
little spore clouds into the audience and make them all go wild. Your mom will come to our
shows and afterwards she’ll tell us there’s a speck of mold on the drum kit, and we’ll tell her
that’s how penicillin was discovered. We end the show by kissing every one of our fans full on
the mouth, with tongue. We’ll tell them it’s important to not be afraid. We’ll tell them we can
share everything.
editors' honorable mention
Initialise
by Jevi Peters
(Hybrid Literature)
by Jevi Peters
(Hybrid Literature)
Other Editor Favorites
|
Hannah Neeley:
Jessica Charest: Bobbi Solano: |
Midnight Dreams of Recognition
by Jacklyn Heslop (Nonfiction) |
|
Andrea Wagner:
Autumn Andersen: |
|
|
Jarred White:
|
Return to Sender
by Andrea Wagner (Hybrid Literature) |
|
Essence Saunders:
|
Mutuals
by Tim Moder (Poetry) |
|
Bo Locke:
|
Desire
by Liz Shine (Fiction) |
|
Morgan Lincoln
|
|
|
Dr. Monica Flores:
|
