Issue 8 – Fall 2020

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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

CNF 8- The Audacity of Men (3)
Fiction 8- The Audacity of Men (1)

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...

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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...

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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...

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Poetry 8- The Audacity of Men (4)

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...

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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...

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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....

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