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Our general reading period may be over, but that doesn’t mean our work is finished. Instead, we’re focusing on our summer contest, which is now open for submissions (submit!). Rumor has it that an armored truck, possibly filled with bees, will deliver the prize money in special-ops fashion, though we suspect it will probably be Nicola’s Honda, …

by Nicola Mason Suddenly, I am a beekeeper. This is entirely due to the poet Liz Tilton, who some time back completed a brilliant stint as CR’s associate editor. She was an amazing officemate back then (We laughed; we cried; we swapped beet recipes), and she continues to amaze me, only at a slightly greater …

It’s not unusual for poet Ruth Williams to disappear on occasion. These absences are often preceded by some sort cryptic comment from Ruth, like “I have, each year, lived past the day I will die.” Then, a week or so later, she’ll return, clutching a pile dried leaves on which she’s jotted existential musings using …

First, the bad news: The end is nigh! Apocalypses may fail to materialize, but the end of our regular reading period has arrived with a vengeance. Any manuscript postmarked after today will be burned, eaten, excreted, and then burned again by the four horsemen of late-submission annihilation. Maybe they are actually deadline-driven copy editors on …

The summer issue is here! In an effort to save on shipping, and because our out-of-the-way attic office affords us lots of quality time with the sizable population of campus birds, we’ve decided to send issues via pigeon post. Though our dry runs were largely unsuccessful (and not especially dry), we finally figured out that …

When volunteer Brandon Whiting ate eight billiard balls, he began to bawl. He tried to explain, plainly, why he wanted to eat the balls, but his bass voice grew coarse, he clutched the base of his throat, and then the blue ball—not the cue ball—blew on a trajectory course right out of his gullet, straight …

Issue 8.1 has officially “dropped.” And now that it’s in, it’s out (soon). Which means another five lucky winners will be eligible for the “elite” Blue Pencil Prize! What is this Blue Pencil Prize? It’s a chance for you to win your choice of a free issue, a free thermos, or a free slingpack—all emblazoned …

Yesterday, we at CR received a cover letter simply titled “cover letter.” Aside from this single sheet, there was nothing else in the envelope. The letter was not signed, nor was there a return address. After a puzzled moment, we realized it was a late, and brilliant, entry in our cover letter contest (that’s what …