New Writing

J is for Jillian – New Nonfiction by Agatha Zarzycki

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

Keep Your Hands on the Reins – New Poetry by Daan Spijer

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

Berceuse – New Poetry by Brent Schaeffer

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

How To Make a Golden Toad – New Poetry by Sophia Hyland-Wolzak

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

The Dinner – New Short Fiction by Lori Miller Kase

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

Kinder, Küche, Kirche – New Short Fiction by Marina Koulouri

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

Fine Lines – New Short Fiction by Heather Knutson

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

Pagodas of the Sun – A New Excerpt by G. S. Arnold

Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Manuscripts & Unpublished Books A Difference of Nothing That September after she spent a month in Tokyo with my ex-husband, Kyoko stood at the kitchen counter digging a fingernail into a gutted vanilla bean. “You’ve joined a circus,” I said.  I had just come upstairs from my … Read more

Vanishing Acts – New Excerpt by Lori White

Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Manuscripts & Unpublished Books Lori White’s essays and stories have appeared in Brevity, Hobart, The Nervous Breakdown, Mud Season Review, and The Kenyon Review anthology, Readings for Writers. She lives with her partner and three dogs in Ventura, CA, and teaches English composition at Los Angeles Pierce … Read more