Spring 2017 issue of USI literary review available

The Spring 2017 issue of Southern Indiana Review (SIR), the University of Southern Indiana's literary journal, features work of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and artwork. In this issue, the winning pieces for the Mary C. Mohr Awards are featured, as well as the artwork of songwriter and recording artist, Robert Pollard from the indie rock band, Guided by Voices.

Richard Thompson was the recipient of the Mary C. Mohr Poetry Award for his poem, "manhood." "manhood" is a poem of the best beauty in that it makes no judgments, no calls to itself in vanity, no explanations that show a distrust for the reader," said Jericho Brown, Mary C. Mohr Awards judge.  "The poet allows for a marriage of music and narrative that makes the dramatic situation of the poem clear; we see things for what they are and draw our own conclusions. We participate in the art that is in front of us." Thompson's work has been published in Skive Journal, Empirical Journal and The Avenue. He lives in Houston, Texas, where he is a clinical psychologist and studies creative writing at the University of Houston.

Writer Bradford Kammin was the recipient of the Mary C. Mohr Fiction Award for the short story The One Good Thing About Las Vegas, Nevada. The story is described by Adam Johnson, Mary C. Mohr Awards judge: "In a world of Flying J truck stops, rest areas and nickel slots, a long-haul trucker makes one last run-with his aging and perpetually down-on-her luck sister riding shotgun. With humor and grit, the two must face a lifetime of bad decisions and compromises, making a few new ones along the way. Kammin's stories have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Arts & Letters, Cimarron Review and elsewhere. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan's MFA program in creative writing, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in English and creative writing at Western Michigan University, where he teaches creative writing and serves as fiction editor of the literary magazine Third Coast.

Robert Pollard's collage art is featured as the cover of the issue, as well as several colored images of his collages inside the journal. Pollard, who is best known for his sustained, prolific songwriting and recording, was creating collages even before he was writing songs. Often satirical, political, dark and sarcastic, his collages have been exhibited at Michael Imperioli's Studio Dante in New York, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and Merge Records headquarters in Durham, North Carolina.

SIR merges poetry and art with broadside prints

The Fall 2016 issue of Southern Indiana Review brought back a long literary tradition called broadside, consisting of a published single poem, often printed on linen paper and accompanied by original artwork. The selected poem and winner of the 2016 Patricia Aakhus Award was William Brewer's piece "In the New World." Original artwork accompanying the poem was a screen print created by USI senior, John Pritchett. A limited edition of 50 prints were signed by Brewer and may be purchased on the SIR website.

Both the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 issues of Southern Indiana Review are available for purchase online.