I am firewood   being cut
in the rain.
—Simon Shieh

It is always interesting to see the synchronicity in what rises to the top of our slush piles. We choose the work, but themes seem to be chosen for us. Issue 16 holds fascinating cross-form conversations. Beth Weeks’ “The Ashtray” talks to Simon Shieh’s “Self-Defense” about the complexities of self-preservation and the body. Erin Kae’s “Dorsal Atlas of Your Lover’s Absent Vertebrae” converses with Christina Holzhauser’s “Mom Speaks on What Sold at Auction” about the memory of what was and the nebulous idea of what is.

Issue 16 also features new essays by Kari Treese and Rachel Watts, fiction by Colin Bennett and Alexander Danner, and poetry by Seth Simons.

— Seth Amos, Rivet co-founder and poetry editor

Contents

The Fog Museum by Alexander Danner — fiction

Dying Is an Art by Rachel Watts — nonfiction

from tedious to wildly overblown to kind of fun by Seth Simons — poetry

The Ashtray by Beth Weeks — fiction

Self-Defense by Simon Shieh — poetry

On Fullness by Kari Treese — nonfiction

Dorsal Atlas of Your Lover’s Absent Vertebrae by Erin Kae — poetry

Landslide by Colin Bennett — fiction

Mom Speaks on What Sold at Auction by Christina Holzhauser — nonfiction