Poetry

• “Exchange of Azalea and Quail” by Karen Holmberg, Issue No. 28
• “Renunciation” by Christopher Locke, Issue No. 27

Nonfiction

• “Faith in a Forgotten Place” by Julian Hoffman, Issue No. 28
• “Winter Flood” by Ana Maria Spagna, Issue No. 27

Fiction

• “Song of the Turkey Vulture” by GE Tallant, Issue No. 28
• “Under the Reservoir” by Anna Laird Barto, Issue No. 27

As always, selecting our total of six allowed submissions is difficult among all of the work we are honored to published in two issues per year. We thank these nominees and all of our contributors for making Terrain.org such a wonderful and important place-based journal!

Shura Young with her dog Toby at the Tar Pits in the 1950s.

I have to decline far more submissions than I accept (that’s not the good part). Occasionally, however, a submission is close, and if I can find the time I’ll provide critical comments on the essay, poem, or story. That doesn’t happen as often as I’d like, of course. But just the other day I received an email from the writer Shura Young that really made my day. Here it is, with her permission to reprint:

To Simmons Buntin,

In May 2007, you emailed me a page of suggestions in response to an early version of my essay, “Tar Pits.” With that encouragement, I continued two years of revising. “Tar Pits” was published in the 2009 Flyway, A Journal of Writing and Environment, and was selected as Notable in The Best American Essays 2010. Flyway recently interviewed me on their blog [read the interview here].

Although I’ve had nothing else so far that I felt would fit Terrain.org, I wanted to express appreciation for the useful feedback you took the time to give me.

Best,
Shura Young

~~~

Though I admit some envy that Flyway, a lovely print journal, got the opportunity to consider the revised essay when we didn’t, I am delighted to learn that Shura continued to work on it and that it found a home and recognition even beyond that. As an editor, it is very gratifying to know that I had a small part in the essay’s success.

Our nominations for 2010 are:

Fiction

• “Precarious Things” by Debbie Weingarten, Issue No. 26
• “The Glory of Ned Wiley” by Braden Hepner, Issue No. 25

Nonfiction

• “To Know a Place: Setnet Fishing in Uyak Bay” by Sara Loewen, Issue No. 26
• “The Book of Water” by Joe Wilkins, Issue No. 25

Poetry

• “Summer Evening, the West Side” by Reeves Keyworth, Issue No. 26
• “Goya’s Dog,” by Laura-Gray Street, Issue No. 26

Congratulations to the authors of these excellent works of literary art. Now we’ll keep our fingers — digital and otherwise — crossed!

• “Digger Wasp,” a poem by Jamison Crabtree appearing in Issue no. 25
• “Precarious Things,” a story by Debbie Weingarten appearing in Issue No. 26
• “The Book of Water,” an essay by Joe Wilkins appearing in Issue No. 25

Terrain.org has been fortunate to place a poem in last year’s edition (“A Short History of Falling” by Pamela Uschuk), an essay in the edition two years ago (“Catching Hell: The Joe Holt Integration Story” by Heather McEntarfer), and a story in the edition three years ago (“The Split” by Kim Whitehead).

We’ll keep our fingers crossed, and encourage you to read all of these fine selections and also to investigate the excellent and important Dzanc Book Best of the Web series.

The selection completes the hat trick for Terrain.org, as we placed fiction in the 2008 edition (“The Split” by Kim Whitehead) and nonfiction in the 2009 edition (“Catching Hell: The Joe Holt Integration Story” by Heather Killelea McEntarfer).

Read and listen to the poem — and two others by Pamela Uschuk — at http://www.terrain.org/poetry/24/uschuk.htm.

We are delighted to once again place a contribution in the Dzanc Books Best of the Web anthology series!

Update:

Dzanc Books is setting up Dzanc National Workshop Day on March 20, 2010.  It has over 30 workshops set up in over 25 cities on that date. Learn more at the Dzanc Day website:

http://www.dzancbooks.org/dzancday

• “Positioning,” essay by J. David Bell
• “Night at the World’s Largest Atomic Cannon,” essay by Christopher Cokinos
• “A Short History of Falling,” poem by Pamela Uschuk
• “Outside Tapatio’s Bar,” poem by Sue Swartz
• “Fog,” poem by Joe Wilkins
• “Night (Geopolitical?) / Noche (¿geopolítica?),” poem by Tedi López Mills, translated by Wendy Burk

Thanks guys!

To say that Orion magazine is one of the publications (and websites) we can’t live without is an understatement. In mission and content, the magazine continues to serve as a beacon.

Poetry – “A Short History of Falling” by Pamela Uschuk

Nonfiction - “Positioning” by J. David Bell

Nonfiction - “Lee’s Ferry” by Ben Quick

Congratulations to these authors and all of the wonderful contributors to the new issue of Terrain.org.

And look for our 2010 Puschart Prize nominations to be announced soon, as well.

The criteria for judging are Non-Corporate, Brilliant + Dynamic Content, Long-Lasting, Cosmetically Efficient.

We’re delighted to make the cut, and hope that Terrain.org meets all of your criteria, as well!