2012-2013 Editor's Note

The NYU Creative Writing Program's Undergraduate Literary Journal

Issue No. 6, 2012-13. Editor’s Notes

Each of the hundreds of West 10th submissions I have read over the past three years has stuck with me. I’m not talking about a vague memory of a jumbled mass of poems and stories. I’m talking about months later, remembering part of a submission and thinking, was that a movie I saw? A book I read years ago? I am telling you this because I don’t want you to think that West 10th begins and ends with the twelve poems, five stories, and fifteen photographs you will find in these pages. These are just a small part of the West 10th community, which is made possible by the incredible generosity of so many undergraduate writers and artists at NYU. As an undergraduate literary magazine, we draw work from a wildly hopeful and raw time in the lives of young writers, and I feel honored to have read so many of our generation’s first wobbly and fantastic steps.

In these pages you will find the pieces that we kept coming back to during the reading period, in whose margins we found ourselves scribbling expletives of praise. They are the pieces we couldn’t wait to talk about at our editorial meetings, and eventually share with all of you. I couldn’t be more excited to finally see them printed and in your hands. On the theme of poems and stories we love, I am pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013 Editors’ Award: Kurt Havens’ “More Field” in poetry, and Frances Gill’s “Girl with Bird” in prose.

I want to take a moment to thank the people who have made this edition of West 10th a success: Lauren Roberts, our managing editor, for fearlessly tackling logistics and always maintaining a clear editorial voice; the members of the editorial board for their enthusiasm no matter how much work I threw at them; Joanna Yas, a wonderful advisor and editor; and Jessica Flynn for always lending a hand. I also want to thank Gerald Stern for so generously giving us his outstanding poems, Deb Olin Unferth for answering our many questions, and Matthew Rohrer and Darin Strauss for selecting the Editors’ Award recipients. Above all we are grateful to all who submitted their work, published or not, and to our readers. Thank you for your support.

Laura Stephenson

Prose

Poetry

Art

Contributors’ Notes