March 2019

KR at AWP: Literature with Icing on Top

If you’re planning to attend the 2019 Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference later this month—and we hope you are—please put the Kenyon Review on your itinerary. The conference takes place March 28-30 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. KR will be at booth #8072. Stop by to say hello, and plan to attend one of our events:

• 80th Anniversary Reading, featuring a diverse group of KR contributors and a panel on what the future holds in store.
• 80th Anniversary Birthday Party, with tasty John Crowe Ransom cupcakes. (That’s where the icing comes in.)
• Book signing with Poetry Editor David Baker, celebrating his new book, Swift.
• Book signing with Editor David Lynn, celebrating his new book, Children of God: New and Selected Stories.
• Creating Space for Translation, a panel on establishing workshops, MFA programs, and academic tracks devoted to literary translation.

For more details on and a schedule of KR events at AWP, click here.

Why We Chose It

BY MISHA RAI, KENYON REVIEW FELLOW

“Snow Line,” by Elizabeth Brinsfield, appears in the Mar/Apr 2019 issue of the Kenyon Review.

Elizabeth Brinsfield’s “Snow Line” is a quiet storm of a story. Exquisitely written, it opens ominously (“We knew our neighbor would come back”) and in the first short section there is violence: the neighbor hits his girlfriend and the police are called, but they fail to catch him as he flees into the mountains. Yet the rest of the narrative—with the neighbor furtively going back and forth to his cabin, avoiding the police; the narrator watching for signs of him across the aspen grove shadowing their homes; the inevitable encounter between the two—has a hushed quality, with tension building imperceptibly.
Read the rest of “Why We Chose It.”

Summer Workshop for Translators: It’s Not Too Late!

Take it from a participant. “The week is perfectly balanced between translation theory and practice, seminar and workshop. And the instructors, fellows, and students are excellent!” We still have openings for The Translator’s Voice: A Polyglot Workshop, July 7-13, 2019. Ideal for both aspiring and mid-career literary translators, this workshop focuses on translation as cross-cultural “transcreation.” By the end of the week, participants will have finished a polished translation that they may continue to prepare for publication. And, translators, take note: if you’re planning to attend the AWP conference later this month, you won’t want to miss the KR panel on establishing workshops, MFA programs, and academic tracks in literary translation. (See the story on AWP, above.) For more information on our summer workshop The Translator’s Voice, click here.

Love to Teach, Love to Write: A Summer Workshop for You

Reconnect with your own inner writer—the one often lost beneath piles of grading! There are still openings for The Writers Workshop for Teachers, July 7-13, 2019. Part writers’ retreat, part professional development, this workshop welcomes high school teachers interested in exploring creative writing as a teaching tool. Participants will learn about prompts and strategies that inspire their own work as well as their students. Kenyon College credit is awarded for the workshop. Don’t wait; apply now! Click here for more information.

For Your Reading Pleasure:
the Mar/Apr 2019 Issue!

“It was the last day of fifth grade, the last day before we left the Reservation elementary school for the white junior high.” The eleven-year-old narrator in Eric Gansworth’s story “Secret Identity” needs glasses but because his mother is on welfare he’s entitled only to “Welfare Clark Kent frames”—another conspicuous sign of poverty for a boy who is beginning to discover the codes shaping his life and place in the world. The quest for frames that will paradoxically confer both anonymity and a superhero’s confidence resonates deeply in this quiet, funny, and touching story. “Secret Identity” is just one of the superb pieces—poetry as well as fiction and nonfiction—to be found in the Mar/Apr issue of the Kenyon Review, now available. (Gansworth is featured in a KR podcast this month. See below.) Subscribe or order a print or digital copy today!

And Your Aural Pleasure:
Kenyon Review Out Loud

Keep in mind that almost every story, poem, and essay in the Mar/Apr issue is available via Kenyon Review Out Loud, enabling you to hear the work wherever you and your ears (and a device) may be. In most cases, the authors themselves read their pieces. Click here for the latest out-loud readings.

New in KR Podcasts

Eric Gansworth, the author of “Secret Identity” in the Mar/Apr Kenyon Review, speaks with Editor at Large Janet McAdams about the compartmentalization of narratives from marginalized communities and the value of creating art within multiple genres and modes. Listen to it!
Also, Writers Workshop fellow Robyn-Phalen Rayson interviews writer Ghassan Abou-Zeineddine about the roles of comedy, folklore, grief, and politics in the crafting of a narrative. Listen to it!

From the KR Blog: “Poet to Poet Interview: Rajiv Mohabir and Craig Santos Perez”

BY CRAIG SANTOS PEREZ

February 20, 2019

There’s even a section in the middle of a folktale broken into three disjointed fragments that I wrote in my grandmother’s reconstructed languages. I do this so that there is a sense that people who are non-European, brown, and unlettered can still be holders of magic. I have seen my own grandmother’s generation be belittled for their lack of formal education. These women recited epic poetry by heart, knew the healing powers of herbs, and how to survive. My poetry is descended from this strength. [Rajiv Mohabir, speaking of his book The Cowherd’s Son.]
Read the entire conversation.

Behind the Scenes: KR Associate of the Month

This month KR intern Tyler Raso interviews Mollie Greenberg ’19, a drama and modern languages and literatures double major from Yellow Springs, Ohio. She’s a student employee, an actress, and a longtime KR Associate. Among the roles she’s played on the Kenyon mainstage are Sonya in Uncle Vanya, #8 in The Wolves, and, most recently, Lenny in Crimes of the Heart for her senior thesis. In this interview she discusses self-growth, theater education, and translation. Read the interview.

MARCH 2019
CONTENTS
Join us at AWP!
Why We Chose It
Translation Workshop
Teachers Workshops
New Mar/Apr 2019 Issue
Kenyon Review Out Loud
KR Podcasts
From the Blog
KR Associate Interview

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