Editor’s Note
Last month, I taught an introductory course on short fiction. In explaining the ecosystem of literary magazines to a class of new writers, I was struck by how strange this world truly is. It’s an industry sustained not by profit, but by an almost maniacal devotion to the art form itself. We’re not in this to get rich; in fact, when you account for submission fees at most major literary magazines (and how few of them pay writers), many of us are actually paying to do this. In that context, it’s easy to worry about the future of the art form. Especially now, amid massive funding cuts, the endless talk of AI, and the shuttering of so many prestigious literary magazines. But thankfully, those worries are always tempered by the countless remarkable submissions from young writers I’m privileged to read at Adroit. If you have any doubts about the future of the form, you won’t after this issue, which spotlights some of the brightest young voices in the literary world. Rest assured, the next generation isn’t just writing; they’re writing well.
This issue features the winners and finalists of the Adroit Prizes, awarded annually to outstanding secondary and undergraduate writers. This year’s prizes were judged by the brilliant Aria Aber and Danez Smith, who faced the near-impossible task of selecting from one of the strongest shortlists I’ve ever seen.
In prose, the prize went to Annie Zhu for her story “Saltless,” described perfectly by Aber as “strange, short, and savage.” It’s an utterly original work, both universal, in its portrayal of environmental disaster, and deeply personal, creating a lived-in, authentic world. Alongside Annie, Nikhe Braimah takes home the poetry prize for the unforgettable “Still Life with Roses,” which opens with the unforgettable simile “I met a man who could fuck like a country road—” and unfolds with wit and precision toward an indelible ending line (which I won’t spoil here.)
We’re also thrilled to include the winners of the inaugural Adroit Editors Prizes. These awards were created, simply, to honor great writing. From three hundred submissions, Rebecca Bernard emerged as the prose winner for her story “In Plato’s Cave No. 1.” It begins, “My wife amputates human feet, three to four a week…Chop chop, she says to me over pasta…” It’s an irresistible voice, rare and yet instantly believable. In poetry, Jenny Molberg takes the prize for “Ekstasis,” an ambitious, kaleidoscopic piece that moves gracefully through art, memory, and self.
Also featured are the prize finalists, immensely talented writers whose work stands proudly alongside the winners. There are, in an Adroit first, two pieces by Eliza Gilbert, who was selected as a finalist in both fiction and poetry. Her story “Plotnick“ is an unsentimental, funny, and devastating portrait of how childhood both shields us from and shapes us into our worst fears. We also have Kaya Dierks’s “Dead Ringers,” an exploration of how trauma ripples outward (another work with an unforgettable ending).
There is more (so much more) and though I’d love to shout out every deserving writer, I’m sure you’re itching to dive in and experience it for yourself. Enjoy it, and let it remind you why we do this.
Michael Costaris
Prose Editor
Michael Costaris is a fiction editor at The Adroit Journal. Recent fiction has appeared in The Baffler, Maudlin House, X-Ray, and many more.
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