March 2022

The Work Issue

Our Mar/Apr issue is all about work, featuring poetry, fiction, and essays on the subject of jobs and labor (physical, intellectual, and emotional). When we put out a call for submissions about work, we received more than 1,400 pieces, which suggests that writers have a lot to say about this broad theme. The issue includes poetry by Leila Chatti, Major Jackson, Ryann Stevenson, and Xiao Yue Shan; fiction by Jennifer Croft, Daniel J. O’Malley, Willa C. Richards, and Angela Woodward; and nonfiction by Dylan Reynolds and Erika Veurink. Subscribe or order a print or digital copy today!

Why We Chose It

BY ELLIOTT HOLT, DEPUTY EDITOR

“Bebo” by Jared Jackson appears in the Mar/Apr 2022 issue of the Kenyon Review.

This is the Work Issue of the Kenyon Review, so it’s fitting that we’ve included a short story with a character who reads as a ghost of work. The Suit Man plays a minor role in Jackson’s story, but he looms large. He strikes me as the perfect representation of late capitalism: a tragic figure who clings to his career costume, despite the fact that he’s now unemployed, hungry, and apparently homeless. The Suit Man has lost his mind, but still has his briefcase. He serves as a kind of cautionary tale for fourteen-year-old Collin and his friends, a reminder that opportunity and stability are hard to come by and easy to lose. There’s no safety net in America, and the boys in this story already know it. Read the rest of Why We Chose It.

Virtual Launch of Mar/Apr Issue

Join us for the virtual launch of the Work Issue on Wednesday, April 6, at 7:00 p.m. EST. The event will feature readings by contributors Leila Chatti, Jared Jackson, Willa C. Richards, and Ryann Stevenson. Register for the Zoom event here.

And if you missed our Jan/Feb issue launch, with powerful readings by Cameron Awkward-Rich, Lan Samantha Chang, and Cate Marvin, you can catch the recording here.

Young Writers Online Workshops

This was the first year that KR offered winter online workshops for young writers, and they were a big success. The workshops, which met via Zoom once a week for six weeks, gave high school students around the world the chance to explore specific craft elements and themes. Pictured here are the enthusiastic members of Chukwuma Ndulue’s workshop called “Raising Your Voice.” The students in this group raised their voices from five states (Connecticut, Florida, Mississippi, New York, and Pennsylvania) and four foreign countries (China, India, the Netherlands, and Turkey).

For students who missed the winter online workshops, applications to our Young Writers Summer Online Workshops are open now. The workshops meet every day for a week, during one of two sessions: June 19–24 or July 10–15, 2022. Apply by April 25!

Adult Online Workshops

In addition to our residential workshops, we’ll be offering online workshops for adults who can’t travel to Kenyon this summer. Like our in-person workshops, these virtual classes are generative, giving participants time and inspiration to create new work. Our online workshops offer a unique opportunity to learn from three different faculty members in the same genre. Faculty includes Shira Erlichman, Manuel Gonzales, Richie Hofmann, Lincoln Michel, Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint, Helen Phillips, Lia Purpura, and Solmaz Sharif. Instead of working with only one instructor, you get to work with three in the same week! The workshops will meet every day, June 20–25, 2022. Applications will open soon!

Writers Workshops for Teachers

Our Writers Workshops for middle school and high school teachers will also be online this summer. This six-day intensive is part writers retreat and part professional development, offering teachers a range of prompts and strategies designed to inspire their own work as well as the work of their students. The virtual workshops meet June 20–25, 2022, so apply now!

KR at AWP

The Kenyon Review will be at the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) Conference & Bookfair in Philadelphia! Stop by booth 901 for a special subscription discount, free writing prompts to inspire your own work, and other fun surprises. Our editors will be there to answer your questions.

And join us for our AWP event on Friday, March 25, at 9:00 a.m.: “A 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Kenyon Review Fellowships.” KR Fellowship winners Elinam Agbo, Cristina Correa, Molly McCully Brown, Misha Rai, and Natalie Shapero will join us for this celebration in room 111AB of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The Kenyon Review Fellowships bring two emerging writers (one poet and one prose writer) to Kenyon College for two years, during which time they gain valuable experience teaching undergraduates and working on the editorial staff of the Kenyon Review. Kenyon Review Fellows, past and present, will read from their work and take questions from the audience. We look forward to seeing you in the City of Brotherly Love!

Kenyon Review Out Loud

On our website, you can hear Kenyon Review contributors read from their work. Among the audio selections from the Mar/Apr issue are “The Allens” by Daniel J. O’Malley, “Pioneer Days” by Erika Veurink, and poetry by Leila Chatti, CJ Evans, Blas Falconer, and Xiao Yue Shan. Listen here.

MARCH 2022 
CONTENTS
Mar/Apr 2022
Why We Chose It
Virtual Launch
Young Writers Online
Writers Workshops Online
Teachers Workshop
KR at AWP
KR Out Loud

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