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Volume 25, Issue 1 (2011)

Welcome

So you’re thinking about picking up this book but don’t know where to start. Well congratulations! You have already completed step one: opening the cover. But now what? There are a lot of pages behind this one, and it’s easy to get lost without the proper guides.

Lucky for you, we here at A Midwestern Review happen to have four of the most qualified literary guides available for hire! They’re the Midwesterners, and they’re here to help you get a lay of the land.

Want to journey into the deep jungles of language, filled with bewitching turns-of-phrase and beautifully tangled images? Then you want Poesy the Poet. Don’t let her tough exterior fool you: beneath all that black she has the quick wit and grace to safely navigate you through the forests of poems that await.

Or maybe you’re more into the art scene. Alder is more than happy to stroll down the marble corridors and point out a few his favorite pieces. And don’t worry about the glasses. He may seem pretentious, but that’s just because he is. It’s okay, though, because he will show you beauty and passion and pain laid bare across the page in the vivid visual works that lie within.

Then, still, there are our adventure trips! Step out of reality itself with Fae, our resident Fiction expert. Be prepared to soar through the clouds of imagination, follow the twists and turns of the mind, and climb into the crevices of whimsy. With Fae as your guide, you’re sure to go further than you’ve ever thought possible.

Maybe all this imagination stuff isn’t your scene. Why fly above reality when you can dive right in? You want to get down and dirty, see the teeming cities of human experience. Well, look no further than our final guide Nantan. He is an expert in the truth, and, although you may not travel far, with him as your guide, you will see the human condition at its most vulnerable and real.

So what are you waiting for?

Sit down, grab a guide, and get going: adventure awaits.

Welcome to A Midwestern Review.

We hope you enjoy your stay.

Art

 

One Line
Aidan Badinger

 

Straying Dreams
Arlene Beltran

 

Luminous Flux
Andrea Hutchingson

 

You're so Naive
Emelie Johansson

 

I Dreamt of Darkness
Amanda Feller

 

Urban Landscape
Kelsey Floyd

 

Fishing Line
Ty Cung

 

The Company
Ruth Poor

 

The Maiko
Evan Miller

 

Shelter Cover
Jaclyn Anglis

Features

 

Interview: Jennifer Egan
Jennifer Egan

Fiction

 

Brass Lion
Jent Botterman

 

Shutter Speed
Arielle Brosman

 

1814
Melissa Burklow

Non-Fiction

 

Jacmel, Haiti
Kelly Reeves

 

Cigarettes and Euchre
Craig Schwipps

 

A Short Memoir
Alex Thompson

Poetry

 

A Great Tree Near Its Death
Caitlin Adams

 

A Confession
April Daugherty

 

Half-pennies
Zach Donisch

 

Kissing Linda Evans
Ann Marie Elliott

 

Fuchsias
Amanda Feller

 

Nakedness
Rachel Gearinger

 

Solo
Zheyi Liu

 

Apocalypse Sestina
JC Pankratz

 

Tracing Tree Rings
Maria Skiles

 

Cognitive Dissonance
Kirsten Ysseldyke

Editors

Editor in Chief
Taylor Crompton
Co-Editor
Meghan Shearer
Graphic Designer
Kristopher Schmelzer
Section Editors
Poetry: Rebecca Buening
Fiction: Kayla Kellerman
Non-Fiction: Stephen Shapiro
Art/Photography: Alyssa Vermillion
Poetry
Jayme Alton
Casseia Todd
Adrienne Westenfeld
T’Kia Williams
Taylor Zartman
Non-Fiction
Hunter Dyar
Logan Meek
Art/Photography
Letra Baehr
Elizabeth Notestine
Kristopher Schmelzer
Fiction
Caitlin Adams
Amanda Feller
Elise Lockwood
Jacob Mark
Madeline Vering
Faculty Advisor
Emily Doak