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

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Louis Simpson

Poetry

Spring 1990

The Mysterious Strangers

By Louis Simpson

He was standing in the doorway listening.       "What is it?" I asked.     He didn't answer, he turned and went inside. To ask a civil question and be ignored … To […]

Poetry

Winter 1988

Herons and Water Lilies

By Louis Simpson

I am walking behind three men, obviously undergraduates, who are talking in loud voices. Why do they have to read Plato? They speak of the opportunities in medicine and law […]