The Blue Mesa Review put together a print anthology of previous contributors’ work to display at AWP in Los Angeles this year. They picked ten pieces from 2016 to 2022 and included my essay “Pergelation,” which won the Blue Mesa Review Nonfiction Contest judged by Leslie Jamison in 2018 and went on to be a Best American Essays Notable that year.

“Pergelation” is one of my favorite publications. I worked on it off and on for years, and I kept trying to fictionalize it. Finally, after reading Jamison’s The Empathy Exams, I rewrote “Pergelation” as straight nonfiction, then submitted it to the BMR contest. My hope was that it would be a finalist and she would read it, and I was delighted when it won.

I wish I could have picked up a print copy in person at AWP but I’m happy to have this in my hands now–it’s a beautiful anthology. Thank you to Amy Dotson and the rest of the team for making this book.