Associate Editor Connor Yeck: When I joined CR in 2021, the most exciting (and for a time, daunting) facet of the job was having the chance to create blog posts. Here was an opportunity to write a blend of creative and critical prose that’d reach readers the very next day, and the freedom to pursue whatever topic, trend, or question was currently steering my writing life. As the final week of UC’s spring semester comes to a close—and with it, my time at CR—I wanted to take a step back and see just where the blog took us these past months: what stories were told, what conversations were had, and which voices featured in a one-of-a-kind venue to which I’ll certainly miss contributing.
September
School was at last back in session, and with it, the CR blog began its year with a bang—write-ups on creating author websites, the dance of submission and rejection, and Assistant Editor Haley Crigger’s in-depth examination of the ethics of creative research. Plus, an excellent interview with our Literary Nonfiction Guest Editor Jerald Walker!
October
Autumn temperatures were slow-approaching, but at CR, the blog settled into its own writerly rhythms. Associate Editor Taylor Byas provided food for thought on finding her poetic voice after completing doctoral exams, and I had the opportunity to write on the many ways we end our poems. We also hosted a fantastic double-header in our Writers’ Day Jobs series, with conversations featuring Aleyna Rentz and Alison Stine.
November
Late fall is a curious time—Thanksgiving arrives in a blink, and on the other side of the holiday, only a handful of days remain before campus hunkers down for winter. A busy schedule on the blog kept CR writers and readers looking ahead, with articles on climate fiction and romantic fantasy, a posthumous feature for the uncanny flash fiction of Kevin McIlvoy, and a guest interview with poet Su Cho on her debut collection, The Symmetry of Fish.
December
The spirit of giving was in full swing on the CR blog at year’s end. With the launch of Issue 19.2, readers could find a treasure trove of online excerpts from our latest issue—poetry, prose, essays and more! We also hosted special conversations with Issue 19.1 contributors Galina Shevchenko and Katie Berta.
January
A new year, a new Robert and Adele Schiff Fiction Festival! UC was honored to host illustrious writer alumni, and CR was doubly honored to spotlight their conversations with resident fiction expert Haley Crigger— Bess Winter with Brenda Peynado, and Gwen Kirby alongside Liv Stratman.
February
While not officially National Poetry month, the CR blog still took to verse in earnest come February. Two new entries in our “What We’re Reading” series by Taylor Byas, a spotlight on visiting Elliston Poet-in-Residence Brian Teare, and the first half of back-to-back book-launch interviews featuring contributors Dennis Hinrichsen and Andrew Collard.
March
Somewhere between travels to Seattle for AWP, CR still found time to fill the blog with early-spring surprises—the second half of Collard and Hinrichsen’s stunning interview series, another excellent “What We’re Reading” piece by Taylor Byas, and a conversation with our 2022 Robert and Adele Schiff Award in Poetry winner Caroline Harper New on life as an artist working in multiple mediums, and I had the pleasure of learning more about Issue 19.2 contributor Rasha Alduwaisan’s work as an oral historian and storyteller in our latest Writers’ Day Jobs entry.
With April nearly over, CR and its blog are thinking ahead to summer and fall, and the new batch of graduate editors who’ll bring their voices, passions, and quirks to a truly unique creative space. It feels rare today to have a platform filled with such a spectrum of experiences and thoughtful examinations of all-things art—from the practical to the academic, from the instructional to the celebratory. It’s been a pleasure being able to write and share alongside so many amazing voices. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
