Spring 2016

Permutations and transformations |  In this issue, we are what we pretend to be: Ginger Strand reads Kurt Vonnegut's diary; Gordon Grice searches for a mummy who (perhaps) assassinated a president in a past life; and Jimmy Maxwell says good-bye to his pals in the United Aryan Brotherhood on his way out of prison.  Here's what you'll find in this 128-page quarterly: Kurt Vonnegut's Oklahoma Eden: Ginger Strand finds out what the hell Kurt Vonnegut was doing in the Osage hills of Northeastern Oklahoma in 1939.  At Risk: Chris Murphy offers a composite of rural poverty in Oklahoma. Safe: A poem dedicated to paranoia by Landry Harlan.  Down Through There: Jimmy Maxwell reflects on his time in prison and as a member of the United Aryan Brotherhood. Rhyme and Punishment: Beth Niestemski explains how a weekly poetry workshop at Tulsa County Jail gives incarcerated women the tools they need to navigate through regret and shame. How to Arrest the Increase of Homicides in America: An 1895 letter from Judge Isaac Parker, infamously known as the “Hanging Judge,” in which he considers the greatest threat to American society. Shooting Starr: Charles Raney presents the primary suspects in Belle Starr’s unsolved murder.  The Piano Player: Scott Pendleton traces the journey of piano superstar Patti Adams Shriner across oceans and decades. By Grannis Creek: Kathleen Kelly fishes for memories in a new poem.  The Mummy of John Wilkes Booth: Gordon Grice travels to Enid to investigate the mummified remains of David George, the man who claimed to be John Wilkes Booth on his deathbed. Old Asshole Explores New Vaginas: Michael Mason visits the RealDoll HQ and observes a gender reassignment surgery to find out what’s trending in the business of constructed vaginas.  In Transit: Katie Rain Hill offers some post-op reflections.  Plane Cowboy: A poem by Shandhini Raidoo for a traveling rancher. Surviving and Sustaining: R.E. Graalman Jr. reveals the challenges faced when one farmer transitioned to organic farming practices. Haul: Nick Norwood’s ode to physical labor.  Summer Leaving Oklahoma Before the Advent of Global Warming: A poetic farewell to an unfamiliar guest by Nick Norwood.  Everyone's Darling: New short fiction by Richard Higgs. Weather You Care: Mason Whitehorn Powell rewinds an obscure documentary to make sense of an experimental filmmaker’s obsession with Oklahoma weather.  The Cyclone: Francis Moore Milburn remembers a powerful storm from last century’s tornado season.