Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction Chapter 1: Twenty Years I wanted to be back on the deck by the water’s edge, sitting there watching the flaming sun cast mirrors on the water – watch it disappear leaving us quiet in the vapor of dusk. Where was I? How many years had … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction I squint at the contents of my closet in the dim morning light. What does one wear to their boyfriend’s intervention? I’ve thought about this intermittently all week, and yet here I am, morning of, and I still don’t know. Bright colours don’t seem appropriate, and … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction This is a personal essay about grief and friendship written in 26 paragraphs. Each paragraph begins with a letter corresponding to the alphabet, which reflects both the fragmentation and continuity of grief. The format is inspired by Ruth E. Dickey’s “Alphabet Soup Kitchen,” an essay published … Read more
It has been our pleasure to read the wonderful submissions to this round of The Letter Review Prize. We are so encouraged by the astonishing quality of the entries, which makes choosing winners a joyful challenge. Witnessing the ever present desire in writers to express the deepest, most profound, most rewarding experiences via language is … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Poetry A strapping young stockman lay dying,as strapping young stockman will,and, although he knew he was close to death,his face it was smiling still.For weeks he’d been mustering cattle,steering them by the stars.But, because he’d been at the bottle,he confused fair Venus for Mars.The reins lay slack … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Poetry – August 2018, Western Washington Wildfires Haze of wild fire: I wade through goose poopand corrugations of lake surf to my daughter.She sits on a damp shipping palette and gumsgritty watermelon rinds. Flies and partiesonly live one day, she says. My mother walks away.My father … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Poetry Gather a tonne of orangesTrucked to MonteverdeFingers nimble, callousedSet to work and skinning the fruitFlesh excused in a heapMagnifying glasses ready butOut of visibility from the sunInspect each peel for blemishesAllow for noneCut the millimeters that are suitablePerfect in hueThe amphibious shape is scrawnyLegs too thin … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Prize for Short Fiction She sits on the subway, one hand wrapped around the silver pole in front of her, the other hugging a black suede tote to her chest. When the train moves, she feels its vibrations inside her body. Her torso sways with the rattling of the subway, … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction Zurich in the 1930s was a city of contrasts, a juxtaposition of old-world charm and new-world progress. Cobbled streets wound their way between stately buildings with centuries-old architecture, while trams clanged their arrival at bustling stops filled with men in their tailored suits and women … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction On a lazy Sunday afternoon, after the church doors closed and the pews filed empty, Robyn and I were side by side in my Honda Accord’s brown interior. I was going through the motions listlessly, but on the inside my restless heart was stirring, weary … Read more