Issue 160

Summer & Fall 2021

  • TriQuarterly expresses immense gratitude to guest editors Luther Hughes, Tara Stringfellow, Andre Perry, and Spring Ulmer for compiling these selections by Black writers and artists.


    Fiction Editor: Tara Stringfellow
    Nonfiction Editor: Andre Perry
    Poetry Editor: Luther Hughes
    Film Editor: Spring Ulmer
    Faculty Advisor: Susan Harris
    Director of Planning: Reginald Gibbons
    Copy Editor: Lys Ann Weiss
    Media Architect: Ken Panko
    Technical Advisors: Rodolfo Vieira, Gerard Panganiban, Garrett Gassensmith
    Supporting Editors: Sarah Minor, Vanessa Chan, Jennifer Companik,Erin Branning Keogh, Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, Emily Mirengoff, Starr Davis, Daniel Fliegel, Joshua Bohnsack, Aram Mrjoian

    Staff: Adrienne Rozells, Amanda Vitale, April Yee, Ashton Carlile, Audrey Fierberg, Bonnie Etherington, Cecilia Rabess, Corey Miller, Dane Hamann, Elijah Patten, Ellen Hainen, Emma Fuchs, Erica Hughes, Erika Carey, Freda Love Smith, Gillian Barth, Grace Musante, Hillary Pelan, Ivis Whitright, Jameka Williams, Jonathan Jones, Laura Humble, Laura Joyce-Hubbard, Liz Howey, Marcella Mencotti, Megan Sullivan, Michele Popadich, Miranda Garbaciak, ML Chan, Myra Thompson, Natalie Rose Richardson, Nimra Chohan, Pascale Bishop, Patrick Bernhard, Prince Bush, Rebecca van Laer, Rishee Batra, Salwa Halloway, Susan Lerner

Image from Flee

Poetry Luther Hughes Poetry Luther Hughes

An Introduction to Poetry

When I was approached to be the guest poetry editor for TriQuarterly’s 160th issue focusing on Black voices, I didn’t hesitate to say, “yes,” because I was, and am always excited to curate a wonderful reading experience, and, of course Black voices, Black experiences, Black stories need to be told.

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Poetry Darius Simpson Poetry Darius Simpson

Word Problems

for Victor Steen

at 15 miles per hour / 1,000 pounds
is a wagon of 166 bricks running a stoplight
is a donkey kicking your entire body at once
is a fully stacked bench press free falling into an esophagus

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Poetry L. Lamar Wilson Poetry L. Lamar Wilson

Ussin, or America’s Grammar Book Penumbra

~after Hortense J. Spillers & Cheryl I. Harris

The love worship of whiteness is the root of all evil, & you,
conspiratorial spiritati who never rue crimes you should
atone, always ride me breathless with guilt for offenses

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Poetry Crystal Valentine Poetry Crystal Valentine

Bronx Heirlooms

I hadn’t seen a sunflower in real life
until 7th grade when Ms. Garcia took our class
to the Botanical Garden though we all wanted to go to the Bronx Zoo

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