Read the winning piece of our 2025 Nonfiction Contest “Through the Mirror” by Jessie Cato selected by Lucy Ives.

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Burnside Soleil

Burnside Soleil grew up in a houseboat on the bayou but these days is a pilgrim in New Orleans. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in [PANK], Southampton Review, Harvard Advocate, and elsewhere.

Nature’s Nature

Mar/Apr 2021

Jeremy

By Burnside Soleil

When your wife died from pneumonia last winter, I thought of the sycamore we climbed in your backyard. The tree’s mottled crust gripped our toes, and from the lowest branch, […]

Nature’s Nature

Mar/Apr 2021

Nel (Tenebrae)

By Burnside Soleil

Micah was missing again. It was Easter, a slow spring. Grandma swept the porch and said “not one foot.” Sitting on the tractor tire, we peeled its tread and heard […]

Mar/Apr 2021

Imani

By Burnside Soleil

Read a micro-conversation with the author here. You would tell me about Ulmus alata and the moths notched on its twigs. You liked the particular. I would tell you about […]

Burnside Soleil

Burnside Soleil grew up in a houseboat on the bayou but these days is a pilgrim in New Orleans. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in [PANK], Southampton Review, […]