Orchid – 2003

Ten stories, a novella, an interview, three poems, and a series of “Afterthoughts” by the journal’s contributors comprise what Orchid’s editors describe, with accuracy, as “rare fiction by talented writers.” Featured writer Maura Stanton (a story and all of the poems) and interview subject Valerie Miner are probably the best known writers in the issue, but several others do certainly deserve our attention, most notably Cindy Dale, whose story “Do Not Do the Arithmetic” represents a brilliant effort.

Ten stories, a novella, an interview, three poems, and a series of “Afterthoughts” by the journal’s contributors comprise what Orchid’s editors describe, with accuracy, as “rare fiction by talented writers.” Featured writer Maura Stanton (a story and all of the poems) and interview subject Valerie Miner are probably the best known writers in the issue, but several others do certainly deserve our attention, most notably Cindy Dale, whose story “Do Not Do the Arithmetic” represents a brilliant effort. I’d read anything of hers set before me, and I’ll definitely look for her name in every table of contents from now on. Bonnie Jo Campbell’s masterfully crafted “Storm Warning” is also memorable. Campbell is one of the more experienced, as in widely published, writers in the volume. Particularly appealing is the number of stories here that deal with the working lives of their characters, including Debbie Lee Wesselman’s fifty-page novella “Vibrissa,” a subject in contemporary fiction that is often sorely missing. Overall this issue offers well-rounded, sturdy, appealing stories, happily free of pretensions and formulaic prose. If you’re clamoring for good, readable stories from new and established voices, pick up a copy of Orchid. [Orchid: A Literary Review, 3096 Williamsburg, Ann Arbor, MI 48108-2026. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue $8.] – SR