Delmarva Review, Volume 15

THROUGH THE AUTHOR’S VOICE, we discover qualities and truths about ourselves. Perhaps more than anything else this describes the strength of our connections with literature.

Welcome to the Delmarva Review’s 15th anniversary edition. Writing from 60 authors was selected from thousands of submissions during the year. This issue includes 78 poems, 11 short stories, and 12 nonfiction essays. In all, the writers come from 18 states, the District of Columbia, and 6 foreign countries. The review welcomes the best new writing in English from all writers regardless of borders.

This year’s cover photograph of an osprey, The Fisherman, tells its own story. The osprey, with wings spread exhibiting his power, has positioned himself high above the water on a storm-broken tree trunk, his talons clutching a partially devoured fish. The osprey’s purpose is not so much the fish as it is his desire to lure a suitable mate for the season’s nest. Thematically, the image exhibits the territorial imperative shared by most animals, including humans.

Each story or poem in this issue has its own message. No singular theme was selected for the edition. As a literary collection, we focus on the most compelling new writing and what is at stake or at risk emotionally or intellectually in the author’s work.

Popular topics include grief, death, pain, love, living, place, acceptance, freedom, aging, and the uncertainty of life, among others. They have one quality in common—change—and the uncomfortable challenges of dealing with change.

The book is divided into three major genre sections: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. An editor’s interview with a featured writer opens each section. The interviews are designed to set a tone for the writing that follows and draw attention to the authors’ intentions—what they were thinking when they wrote the piece or the choices they faced.
This year’s fiction includes a “flash fiction” piece from the first recipient of the Delmarva Review-Talbot County Youth Writing Scholarship award. In partnership with Talbot County Schools and supported by a grant from the Talbot Arts Council, the review selected “E Duo Unum” from Maxine Poe-Jensen, now a high school senior at St. Michaels High School. The student collaborated with one of our editors, as a mentor, to prepare for publication in the Delmarva Review, and she received a monetary award. The program is part of the review’s ongoing efforts to promote the literary arts regionally among aspiring young writers.