A Literary Magazine Sponsored by The University of Maine at Farmington
“Trethowan’s quote struck me. It’s one of those things that we might not often stop to ponder. Like, if you think about how heavy a rain cloud is, it’s amazing that it seems to float in the sky. Man has been to the moon, but we don’t know why hiccups occur.”
by Nick Soluri Nick Soluri is a writer from New York. His poetry has appeared in Five:2:One Magazine, Boston Accent, Occulum, Albany Poets, As It Ought To Be Magazine, and … Continue Reading How To Have Sex When You’re Both Depressed
by Rowan Bagley I have never experienced the pressure of being expected to represent the views and feelings of my entire race. My gender, yes, but not my race. I … Continue Reading Punk and Racedness
by Ted McCarthy The chord shifts from smooth to sinister,a wave of violet hoversabove the keyboard, the heat of imaginedyears shocked by an electronicchill: what have they doneto those sounds … Continue Reading Electronica
“the two people in the booth behind me, were a grandfather and a granddaughter. They were strangers to me and still are. I never saw them. I didn’t dwell on their conversation, but I did hear enough to piece together a story.”
by Rowan Bagley In 1975, Patti Smith released her album Horses, which featured cover art by a relatively unknown photographer named Robert Mapplethorpe. The black and white photograph features Smith … Continue Reading Punk and Gender Expression
by Ted McCarthy Too many evenings taking in the distanceand getting nowhere.The sky’s a beautiful and wondrous thingbut nothing grows there. Ted McCarthy is a poet and translator living in … Continue Reading Sky
by Douglas Cole I am travelling along the bloodstream of this building and going down every corridor looking for the unseen terrible heart that keeps this going. I want to … Continue Reading The Companion
“There were high tables, each with four easels supporting blank canvases. A brick wall, splashed with dimmable recessed lighting, and a stage for the instructor that would try to inspire and enlighten. Three brushes, gobs of five selected hues of paint for our suggested end goal: a dandelion gone to seed silhouetted against a full moon in a purple sky.”
by Douglas Cole Somewhere, an old man is sitting in his dim cabin trying to make out these words. Did I write this? Muttering, fire crackling. He’s wondering, as ideas … Continue Reading Dead Center
by Rowan Bagley I first heard Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” when I was 19. On one of the many nights I stayed awake well into the early hours of the … Continue Reading Riot Grrrl
by Douglas Cole I’m walking home from Charlie and Yumi’s house. Maybe it’s after one. Mist is sliding through the live oak trees, and I’m figuring out the geometry of … Continue Reading Getting Yourself Home
“The quote seemed improbable. It sparked some synapses. Electrical. Chemical. Confusion. I could feel my brain feeling around in the vault. Don’t I know who Pancho Villa is? Somewhere between echoes of a Townes Van Zandt song and Three Amigo movie caricatures, I found a feeling where I thought I’d stored a fact.”
by Rowan Bagley One of my favorite songs when I was nine or so was “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways. I listened to it to a point that, when I … Continue Reading That’s Very Punk Rock Of You
Quotations hold a special significance in the lexicon of human connection and communication.
As the greenery of summer begins to shift into the fiery colors of autumn, two new editors make their way into the River. We are Rowan Bagley, a Creative Writing … Continue Reading Meet the Fall 2019 River Editors!