Stories & Essays
Translating
2021 Kenyon Review Short Nonfiction Contest Runner-Up
(chosen by Roxane Gay)
I asked K*** if, seeing as how this was pulled from her own life, she wouldn’t rather pursue the piece as nonfiction.
K*** stood her ground. She preferred it be a short story. She liked the idea of writing her own ending.
When we teach, it can be easy to forget that our students often lead complicated lives beyond our classrooms. “Translating” is a moving remembrance of a student suffering from chronic illness, the impact they had on a teacher, and how some experiences are beyond translation.
—Roxane Gay
Ootheca
The McNeese Review
"Edith scratches her forearm. A scurf of dead skin flutters into her lap, salting her black jeans. I resist chiding her. Why does she insist on wearing black? Why can’t she keep from scratching all the time? Why did this blow up into some Medici-level, online intrigue with her classmates? Why now? Why is her body doing this now?"
Let Mythical Beasts Flourish
The Tishman Review
Ancil used to think the world might react favorably to the myakka apes. He, Ancil, was not the ugly one. He was not a monster. Monsters were monsters.