Editor’s Note: The theme of this issue is “Crush.” Inspired by the poet Richard Siken’s first collection Crush, the word is impossible to define because it extends much beyond romance: it is tenderness and strength, conviction and confusion, dissolution and immensity. We invited writers to interpret “Crush” loosely and expansively. The submissions we received made… [Read More]

In memory of Dr. Carol C. Harter, President Emerita of UNLV and founding Executive Director of the Black Mountain Institute Dr. Carol Harter passed away on September 14, 2023, in San Diego, CA, at the age of 82. As many others have noted, she was a legend, a visionary, and a tenacious fighter who always put… [Read More]

by Lorraine Rice The baby factory has an assembly line that runs backwards, making a mockery of time… By the end, no one remembered the beginning. The city on fire, burning itself out in a squall of flame and ash. The escape, fleeing to a rumored safe house in the basement of a church near the… [Read More]

In memory of Peter Stine, founding editor of Witness What does “Witness” mean? In this letter, we want to celebrate the legacy of our founding editor, Peter Stine, who passed away in August 2023 at age 81. In 1987, writer Peter Stine was approached by Dr. Sidney Lutz, a philanthropic businessman in Detroit, asking if… [Read More]

by Wilson M. Sims I’m doing the work of mental health and substance abuse consultation in pandemic isolation, and I’m in my bedroom wearing nothing but gym shorts while suggesting, assessing, and directing. There’s a full moon tonight and its white light is profiling the holly bushes and fence posts outside my window. It’s not supposed… [Read More]

by Reema Rao-Patel There was no funeral for Devi, no puja for final rites, no pyre. That day, six months ago, crashes into the shores of Sriram’s mind the way Devi’s blood spilled from her little body, flooding the temple and streets, staining the ponds angry. And then too quickly, the red disappeared.  He wonders if… [Read More]

by Caio Driver Harnan Samson has a bunch of socks and one eye. He works at a convenience store and gas station off the 21st South freeway in Salt Lake City. It’s a short, four-lane freeway that’s always trafficked, hemmed in on either end by bulky, rising mountains with snow-capped peaks. It’s not a cool… [Read More]

by Adina Leschinsky Levine  I might have known what Mom could do to me because of that time she threw the mudpies down the rabbit hole. My sister Mary Ellen and I were in the backyard mixing dirt with water, sprinkling magic acorns on top. I was four and Mary Ellen was almost ten. I spoke… [Read More]

in collaboration with the Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum Letter to the Reader By Dr. Robert Rock Belliveau Over the years, I’ve appreciated how artwork transcends language and communicates on a level that words simply cannot. Art has the ability to inspire, to heal, and to create a sense of unity among people. It is a testament… [Read More]

by E. M. Tran The first day of filming Big Fat Losers’ fifteenth season, showrunners drove the contestants to Malibu in a chartered bus. A stage and audience bleachers had been set up on the beach. They were corralled into the hastily constructed green room with tables of food for the crew and cast. Minh ate… [Read More]

by Marlena Williams The horses were still dying when my dad and I visited Santa Anita. It started in 2019, when thirty-seven horses died at the famed Southern California track in a single year. Most notably, the Breeder’s Cup champion Battle of Midway was euthanized after a severe break in his hind pastern, the area in… [Read More]

by Mariah Rigg First Length We stand, toes curled around the rough edge of the deck, waiting for Coach King’s whistle. It is 6 a.m. and February on Oʻahu. It is about to rain. Our suits cling to our bodies, wet from the morning water polo practice. Above us, our high school’s gymnasium looms. Ready?  Coach… [Read More]