Volume 21, Issue 01 is available for preorder with an estimated release date of May 22, 2024.

For 21.1, we embraced the element of surprise and the uncanniness of reality. The work in this issue stretches across time, beyond time, and found its way to Ninth Letter just when we needed it. From bats to adoption, cigarettes to supernatural babies, Catullus to Mellencamp, we’ve put it all together for an exciting and thought-provoking read.

This colorful issue includes new work from Nick Lantz, Carolyn Guinzio, jason b. crawford, Kieran Mundy, Nick Martino, Jordan Escobar, Katie Moulton, Laura Eve Engel, and other fantastic voices! Check out our pre-press mockup below for a sneak peek of this issue’s design.

Poetry

Rosa Castellano
Red Summer Souvenir for the Postcard Dead

jason b. crawford
Untitled 1975-86

Laura Eve Engel
Good Morning Say It Back
To Jump Over Everything, the Moon, and Land in Love

Jacob Escobar
Bigotes Sings

Kylie Gellatly
The Living

Carolyn Guinzio
Counter
Speaker

Letitia Jiju
Self-Portrait with Entangled Photon II

Cindy King
Topographical Approximations

Nick Lantz
My Wife Asks How Often I Think About the Roman Empire

Nick Martino
I Practice Loving Your Sleep

Rebecca Morton
Love
Foster Care Preparedness Assessment

Vincent Antonio Rendoni
Panaderia at the End of the World

Amanda Maret Scharf
Solstice as Folklore

 

Staff

Editor
Liz Harms

Creative Nonfiction Editor
Christopher Kempf

Fiction Editor
Amy Hassinger

Poetry Editor
Corey Van Landingham

Associate Editors
Jason Pfister, Andrea Sielicki, Zach Simon

Senior Editorial Assistants
Isabella Escamilla, Matthew Fash, Carrie Johnson

Editorial Assistants
Gabriella Hoggatt, Callan Latham, Justine Lynelle Mercado, David Miller, Tyler Moore, Nina Sannes, Garrett Stack, Erin Stoodley, Hannah Lee Thorpe

Assistant Editors
Weston Morrow
Michael Hurley

Editors at Large
Philip Graham
Jodee Stanley

Advisory Board
Amy Sayre Baptista, Traci Brimhall, James Brunton, Lindsey Drager, Matthew Minicucci, Marus Wicker

Ninth Letter is published semi-annually in June and December by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Copies are available for $14.95. A one-year subscription may be purchased for $21.95; a two-year subscription may be purchased for $37.95.

Subscriptions and single-copy orders may be sent with check or credit card information to Ninth Letter, Dept. of English, University of Illinois, 608 S. Wright St., Urbana, Illinois, 61801. Credit card orders may also be placed securely placed here.

Ninth Letter accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from September 1 to February 28 (postmark dates). For complete guidelines and to submit online, visit our print submissions guidelines page.

Ninth Letter operates without an endowment, so all printing, shipping, and operational costs are heavily dependent on subscriptions and charitable donations. If you would like to support our mission to print literary writing alongside cutting-edge graphic design, please consider making a donation.

Ninth Letter is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.