Issue 8 – Fall 2020
Dear Readers,
Welcome to ANGLES Issue 8! This year has been an unpredictable journey of highs and lows, and our featured writers have reflected the uncertainty of 2020 in strong, urgent, and attentive pieces of writing. We are thrilled to welcome back Britt Bender as our featured artist, as she presents a bold vision of feminist activism through her art. This theme is also highlighted in the featured artist interview in this issue, which presents responses to questions about gender and sexuality from several individuals–our attempt to invite more voices into an important conversation.
In this issue, we showcase A.A. Mitra’s “Goodbye to the Class of 2020,” as she recalls the difficult journey of navigating a college campus and finishing a degree in the wake of COVID-19, a struggle that rings all too familiar with students around the world.
With our writers, we aim to highlight the strongest and most vivid examples of college-aged writing, and we are excited to present this in the form of JC Choi’s poetry. In their four poems in this issue, Choi’s dynamic voice paints striking pictures through language that captures the mission of ANGLES to prioritize writing that innovates and pays close attention.
With the ongoing social climate of the world becoming increasingly difficult to navigate, we recognize the need to continue to promote and support the work of diverse writers and artists. With this issue, we hope to alleviate at least a bit of the pressure of the world even for a few moments, without shying away from issues that matter.
Valerie Morgans and Erin Reilly
ANGLES managing editors
DEAR DOWNINGTOWN , THERE’S A HOLE IN THE MATTRESS by Olivia Hunt
i. The PVC pipe was about four feet long, swung down so hard between his legs that it cracked into a cloud of white dust as it met the red cotton of his boxer shorts. His legs went limp and crashed down beside him, slapping together. Slowly, his knees clamshelled...
GOODBYE TO THE CLASS OF 2020 by A.A. Mitra
July 7th, 2020 On summer afternoons, if you catch the sun at just the right time, the stained-glass windows of Georgetown University’s Dahlgren Chapel create a curious effect on the chancel. The way the light falls through the apse, you get the sense that shadowy...
MISSION INSANITY by Monty Rozema
She pulls down the restraints, heavy, encapsulating plastic shimmering with the heat and stick of a thousand happy screams, and tells me that she and I are breaking up, and that she’s not open to negotiating it. I hear the plastic clicking into place. I fasten my own...
TRULY NOT TICS by Taylor Johnson
Blinking Truly began the day by winking at her friend’s fiancé. She shrugged when her professor asked if she was paying attention. She rolled her eyes when her friend told her a story. She grunted as she tried to eat. She swore at people as she walked to class. She...
WIFE by Devon Miller
She asked me what I thought about food, and I told her I didn’t. I couldn’t remember if I had eaten or not: food was splitting my brain in half. I was sweating through the paper gown, and I wrapped my arms around each other to stop from shivering. I was listening her...
TWO POEMS by Natalia Quevedo De La Esprie
Bruised Dreamers The city, I think Is like a scar Ra(z)ised from the supple earth of what was Or What might have been Creeping in between the strangled dreams cradled in her palm History slops from between the fingers down back through cracks in the sidewalk Hosting...
EGO by Emma Berg
i talked to god on the edge of a cliff. at the canyon’s bottom was a beautiful river. “L'APPELDUVIDE!” i cried out to him. “this is everything you wish to be,” he responded. i saw god in the spaces between her teeth. he smiled mockingly, tantalizingly, daring...
MY CRAZY AUNT CELESTE WHO MAKES THE WORST BEAN POTATO TACOS IN ALL OF TAOS by Alejandro Lucero
Back then, she hated the way the little girls clacked their dollar store sandals on the sidewalk when they pulled each other’s braids. Back then, she hated the night time because that’s when the worst calls came. She loved that all her...
FOUR POEMS by JC Choi
The Lovers Red— Lips stumbling over each other like a newborn calf, eyes jumping like a flea There’s a level 5 earthquake in his leg No one’s ever been nervous about meeting you He says something, and it makes you laugh, and a gorgeous inky blush blooms across his...
GALLERY AND INTERVIEW
ANGLES: How does your gender identity interact with your identity as a student/ member of a college campus? Britt Bender: Recently I’ve discovered that I wish to identify as gender fluid, an interesting discovery as I near the very edge of my college career....