Copper Nickel Issue 42

Copper Nickel is the national literary journal housed at the University of Colorado Denver. It is edited by poet, editor, and translator Wayne Miller (author of six collections, including The End  of Childhood and We the Jury, coeditor of Literary Publishing in the Twenty-First Century, and co translator of Moikom Zeqo’s Zodiac) and co-editor Joanna Luloff (author of Remind Me Again What Happened and The Beach at Galle Road)—along with poetry editors Brian Barker (author of Vanishing Acts, The Black Ocean, and The Animal Gospels) and Nicky Beer (author of Real Phonies  and Genuine Fakes, The Octopus Game, and The Diminishing House), and fiction editors Teague  Bohlen (author of Escaping Denver and The Pull of the Earth), Christopher Merkner (author of  The Rise & Fall of the Scandamerican Domestic), and Emily Wortman-Wunder (author of Not a Thing to Comfort You). Since the journal’s relaunch in 2015, work published in Copper Nickel has been regularly selected  for inclusion in Best American Poetry, Best American Short Stories, Best Small Fictions, Best Literary Translations, and the Pushcart Prize Anthology, and has been listed on many occasions  as “notable” in the Best American Essays. According to Clifford Garstang’s 2024 literary journal rankings, Copper Nickel is ranked number 11 for poetry and number 37 for fiction, out of more than 700 regularly publishing literary journals. Contributors to Copper Nickel have received numerous honors for their work, including the Nobel Prize; the National Book Critics Circle Award; the Pulitzer Prize; the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award; the Kate Tufts Discovery Award; the Laughlin Award; the American, California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Washington State Book Awards; the Georg Büchner Prize; the Prix Max Jacob; the Griffin Poetry Prize; the Lenore Marshall Prize; the T. S. Eliot and Forward Prizes; the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award; the Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award; the Lambda Literary Award; as well as fellowships from the NEA and the MacArthur, Guggenheim, Ingram Merrill, Witter Bynner, Soros, Rona Jaffee, Bush, and Jerome Foundations.  Copper Nickel is published twice a year, on March 15 and October 15, and is distributed nationally to bookstores and other outlets by Publishers Group West (PGW) and Accelerate 360.  Issue 42 Includes: • Translation Folios by Chilean poet Rolando Cárdenas (translated from the Spanish by July  Westhale), Québécois poet Bertrand Laverdure (translated from the French by slp pieplow), Afghan novelist Khosraw Mani (translated from the Afghan Persian by Hajar Hussaini), Cuban poet Osdany Morales (translated from the Spanish by Harry Bauld), and Sri Lankan fiction writer Shobasakthi (translated from the Tamil by N. Asokan). • New Poetry by National Book Award finalist Calvin Bedient; National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Bob Hicok; Kingsley Tufts Prize winner Angie Estes; UNT Rilke Prize winner David Keplinger; Guggenheim fellow Michael Waters; NEA Fellows Hadara Bar-Nadav, Michael Bazzett, and Mark Irwin; Los Angeles Times Book Award Finalist Erin Belieu; relative newcomers Lyn Li Che, Jordan Escobar, and Derek Otsuji; and many others. • New Fiction by O. Henry Prize recipient Valerie O’Riordan, John McGahern Award winner Niamh Mac Cabe, Colorado Book Award winner John Cotter, and relative newcomers Erin Pesut and Fortunato Salazar. • New Essays by Benjamin Saltman Award winner Matty Layne Glasgow and Best American Essays Notable Aaron Rabinowitz. • Cover Art by Denver-based artist Danielle SeeWalker. Contributor Locations Contributors to issue 42 come from all over the country and the world.  ——— U.S. cities/regions where contributors and staff are concentrated include (organized  alphabetically by state): Denver, CO (home of Copper Nickel and the Copper Nickel staff; contributor Graham Foust; cover artist Danielle SeeWalker) Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (home of Milkweed Editions; contributors Michael Bazzett and Jessica Nordell; contributing editor V. V. Ganeshananthan) Los Angeles, CA (contributors Calvin Bedient and Fortunato Salazar; contributing editors Victoria Chang, Piotr Florczyk, Amaud Jamaul Johnson, and Chris Santiago) San Diego, CA (contributors Jordan Escobar, Peter Krumbach, and Michael Mark) Chicago, IL (contributor C. Pope; contributing editor Robert Archambeau) Kansas City, MO (contributors Hadara Bar-Nadav and Alice White) New York, NY (contributors Harry Bauld, Lyn Li Che, and Osany Morales) Philadelphia, PA (contributor Amy Thatcher; contributing editor Adrienne Perry) Houston, TX (contributor Erin Belieu; contributing editor Kevin Prufer) Blacksburg, VA (contributor Bob Hicok; contributing editor Janine Joseph) Boston/Cambridge, MA (contributing editors Martha Collins and Frederick Reiken) Pittsburgh, PA (contributing editors Joy Katz and Kevin Haworth) ——— U.S. cities/regions with individual contributors (organized alphabetically by state): Tucson, AZ (contributor July Westhale) Merced, CA (contributor Mai-Linh Hong) San Francisco, CA (contributing editor Randall Mann) Fort Collins, CO (contributor slp pieplow) Greeley, CO (contributor Mark Irwin) West Hartford, CT (contributor Benjamin S. Grosberg) New Haven, CT (contributor Margot Schilpp) Washington, DC (contributor David Keplinger) Ocala, FL (contributor Asa Drake) Rome, GA (contributor Zack Strait) Honolulu, HI (contributor Derek Otsuji) Urbana, IL (contributor Angie Estes) Boise, ID (contributing editor Emily Ruskovich)Lexington, KY (contributing editor Ada Limón) Amherst, MA (contributor Martha McCollough) Shrewsbury, MA (contributor John Hodgen) Belmont, ME (contributor Pamela Alexander) Ann Arbor, MI (contributor Christopher Matthews) Duluth, MN (contributor Rebecca Foust) Saint Louis, MO (contributing editor Niki Herd) Missoula, MT (contributing editor Sean Hill) Greensboro, NC (contributing editor Emilia Phillips) Ocean, NJ (contributor Michael Waters) Canton, NY (contributing editor Pedro Ponce) Princeton, NJ (contributing editor James Richardson) Saratoga Springs, NY (contributor Hajar Hussaini) Tulsa, OK (contributing editor Kaveh Bassiri) Canonsburg, PA (contributor George David Clark) Providence, RI (contributor John Cotter) Knoxville, TN (contributor Michael Pontacoloni) Nashville, TN (contributor Cara Dees) Dallas, TX (contributing editor Tarfia Faizullah) Salt Lake City, UT (contributor Matty Layne Glasgow) Brattleboro, VT (contributor Erin Pesut) Seattle, WA (contributor Vincent Rendoni) Green Bay, WI (contributor Sophie Bebeau) Laramie, WY (contributor Cady Favazzo) ——— International contributors live in: Paris, France (contributors Khosraw Mani and Shobasakthi) Quebec, Canada (contributor Bertrand Laverdure) Waterloo, Canada (contributor N. Asokan) Manchester, England (contributor Valerie O’Riordan) Berlin, Germany (contributing editor Alexander Lumans) Sligo, Ireland (contributor Niamh Mac Cabe)Praise for Copper Nickel: “Copper Nickel is terrific—of its time without being confined to its time, careful and thoughtful and never  predictable, with the kind of internal variety that I want (and rarely get) from a litmag—not a pinlight or a  penlight but a light that shines on a whole field. I’m happy to read it.”  —Stephanie Burt, author of Close Calls with Nonsense: Reading New Poetry; Professor of English, Harvard University “Through its combination of editorial acuity, serious belief in contemporary writing, and sheer  handsomeness, Copper Nickel has established itself as the best new evidence of defiant vitality in the realm of literary journals.” —Mark Halliday, author of six poetry collections, most recently Thresherphobe; Distinguished Professor of English, Ohio University “Copper Nickel is THE literary magazine to read now. Since its rebirth/relaunch every issue has had, inside  its stunning cover, the fiction, poetry, nonfiction and works in translation any writer or lover of contemporary writing has to read. I confess: other magazines, even the New Yorker, often sit in my house unread. But Copper Nickel gets opened as quickly as a Christmas present!” —Jesse Lee Kercheval, author of five books of fiction, most recently the novel My Life as a Silent Movie, and seven poetry collections; Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin “Long regarded as one of the best literary magazines in the country, the relaunched Copper Nickel has only  improved, publishing a diverse range of award-winning poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in its first year. With each new issue Copper Nickel proves itself to be a wellspring of new American writing.” —Nathan Oates, author of The Empty House; Professor of English, Seton Hall University “In the great spirit of the late Jake Adam York, Copper Nickel is back and more relevant than ever. Where else to turn for such a dynamic combination of contemporary writing? Brilliantly curated, the diversity of voices, new and established, not only spans aesthetic divides but includes translation portfolios, art and essays that  address pressing concerns of writers working today.”  —Sally Keith, author of four poetry collections, most recently River House; Associate Professor of Creative Writing, George Mason University “Copper Nickel is one of the most diverse, daring, and visually beautiful literary journals I’ve ever read. The  fact that its relaunch has gained national recognition is no surprise—now more than ever, Copper Nickel is a  goldmine for readers of contemporary poetry and prose.” —Allison Benis White, author of three poetry collections, most recently Please Bury Me in This; Associate Professor of Creative Writing, University of California Riverside“Copper Nickel is more than a literary journal—it’s an event. A celebration. An embrace. And it is also essential  reading for anyone who cares about contemporary writing these days, in America and beyond.” —Whitney Terrell, author of The Good Lieutenant; Associate Professor of Creative Writing, University of Missouri Kansas City “Copper Nickel has been a great magazine for quite awhile, and it continues to get better. Aesthetically diverse, welcoming of both established and emerging writers, it’s always worth a cover-to-cover read.” —Martha Collins, author of ten poetry collections, most recently Admit One: An American Scrapbook; Professor Emerita, Oberlin College “When I first encountered Copper Nickel, I was a hopeful graduate student looking for poems written by my  peers to both resonate with me and challenge me. I found so many new heroes in the pages of Copper Nickel, and it also allowed me to encounter the work of its brilliant editors as well, including Jake Adam York. When  Jake passed, I mourned both him and his vision. It’s been thrilling to see Copper Nickel come back to life, and in its new alchemical form, it is as much if not more wide-seeing and enlivening as ever. I recommend it frequently to my students, colleagues, and lovers of engaging literature and art.” —Tarfia Faizullah, author of the poetry collection Seam; Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, University of North Texas “The newly relaunched Copper Nickel is certainly one of the most exciting literary magazines being published in the country today. The poems, stories, and essays are of the very highest quality and the editors’ passion for a truly international vision of literature as well as for the discovery of new work by emerging authors shows in every issue. It’s no surprise that this year’s work from Copper Nickel has been selected for inclusion in three of the most prestigious annual anthologies in print: Best American Poetry, Best American Short Stories, and the Pushcart Prize Anthology.” —Kevin Prufer, author of six poetry collections, most recently The Fears; Professor of Creative Writing, University of Houston “I admire the careful curation of the issues of the rebooted Copper Nickel, its diversity of aesthetics and cultural voices, in particular its commitment to emerging writers: in the current issue, two of my favorite pieces are by Sequoia Nagamatsu and Cathy Linh Che, fierce writers (each the author of one book) who are new to me. And what’s consistent in the magazine—line by line; sentence by sentence—is the caliber of the work.” —Randall Mann, author of three poetry collections, most recently Deal: New & Selected Poems