Borderlands are venues for encounter, exchange, and conflict. They encompass not only physical or legislative borders, but also abstract spaces—psychological, cultural, social, and natural. What happens in the limbic, the transitional, and the in between? What is gained and what is lost in the act of defining boundaries? What questions does the space raise of race, class, gender, citizenship, and identity? Hayden’s Ferry Review invites writers and artists to interpret the theme as they like. We’d prefer interpretations of a personal nature, rather than general, but mostly we just want strong, passionate pieces that excite and challenge.
Read MoreIn the never-ending logomachia that completely consumes the poetry world every second of every day, I champion The Forces of Good and Right by making sure all my verse is in meter and/or rhyme. You should, too.
Read MoreIf you’re an English major, fiction writer, poetry buff, or literature lover, chances are you often encounter a dash of crippling anxiety from time to time (or perhaps that’s just me). Why? Well, I feel that over time those of the literary persuasion have gotten a bad rap. It’s become a bit of a running joke in the academic world that those who choose a life of metaphors, papers, and workshops are also choosing a life of unemployment, low-pay, and uncertainty. I have yet to meet an English major who hasn’t heard in so many words that they will not make any money and are in for a rough go once graduation hits. And in my personal experience, after listening to this lecture so many times, it becomes harder and harder not to believe the prophecy. It was this inkling fear and curiosity that lead me to this.
Read MoreEvery month, we receive hundreds of prose and poetry submissions from emerging and established writers. The stories, essays, and poems we receive are ambitious, relevant, and emotionally moving. Unfortunately, we only have room to publish a small fraction of these in our print journal, and it saddens us to have to turn away so many amazing pieces.
Read MoreHFR: This piece has a wonderful tendency to juxtapose humor, the mundane, and tragedy. In one moment, we're with the quirky Fox-Neck, or on the phone with a family member, and in the next we're looking at the great-grandmother's skin like crumpled paper. What do you think the importance is of shifting tones in this story?
EB: The most significant scenes from my own life—and most people’s lives, I think—are riotous with feeling. Not just one. Chaos invites a certain kind of manic alertness and the antenna goes up, jerking us in and out of emotional stations. Where there is predicted pain, I think we become receptive, eager, for a different feeling. The shift is a survival instinct. I think the narrator’s erratic experience of death in this story is just one version of everyone’s. What we all notice, say, project, ignore, what we tune in and out of, shift between, is the way we protect ourselves from the permanence of loss. From a craft standpoint, the tonal shift can wake readers up and keep us ready for the next jolt, but it only does that because we want that turn in life.
Read MoreI’ve always had an abiding interest in religion, and in Buddhism specifically, thanks to early exposure from a family friend who told me about her conversion. We’d sit at the kitchen table playing gin rummy and she would try to tell me about her experience. She said it was like her head was splitting open and the universe was pouring in. I often wondered what it felt like and whether I’d ever have that sort of experience. I wondered whether I wanted it, or whether I was afraid of the loss of control such ecstasy might feel like.
Read MoreSo you’re going to have a reading! Congratulations! Readings can be very fun and are an excellent opportunity for you to share your work with the world. But for many the idea of standing in front of a crowd and speaking is a daunting task. If you are one of those people, have no fear! Here are some tips for the nervous writer.
Read MoreWith a rich history that extends back into oral tradition, it’s no surprise that rap and hip-hop music is rife with exquisite storytellers. Hip-hop giants like Slick Rick, the Notorious B.I.G. and Nas are counted among the best for their storytelling abilities as much as their rhythmic flows and vocabularies. But what exactly makes a “good” story? And are the stories told in rap on the same level as what we commonly know as “literature?” Certainly nobody is comparing Soulja Boy to Shakespeare, but here, I will analyze three different rap songs in terms of traditional narrative elements: characterization, plot, setting, style, and themes. I will attempt to pin down how each of these elements is used to make the songs intriguing, unique, and effective as literary works.
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