1. Tell us about your poem, “Landmannalaugar,” in Volume 21. How did it come to be? When I was in college, I spent a week in Iceland as part of a study abroad program through my conservative Christian university. Our guides took us to this beautiful, remote hot spring...

In a break from our normal protocol, we present this special In The Field featuring Elaine Ford. WSR published Ford's piece "Briggate" posthumously, as submitted for consideration by her husband Arthur Boatin. In the following Q&A, Arthur has crafted answers on...

1. Tell us about your poem in Volume 21, “Panels from a Celestial Autumn.” How did it come to be? It’s an invented form where each section or ‘panel’, as in a polyptych in painting is a separate voice but the sections hang together as part of a larger whole. I began...

1. Tell us about your CNF piece, “Preserves,” in Volume 21. How did it come to be? Structurally, “Preserves” tells the true story of my experience learning to preserve food through canning. That straightforward narrative arc serves as a container to hold less...

For over twenty years, Water~Stone Review has been a collaborative passion project of students, faculty, and staff. While it is a staff member who holds the position of managing editor (Meghan Maloney-Vinz), and esteemed faculty (Katrina Vandenberg, Patricia Weaver...

1. Tell us about your fiction piece, “For Ángel, The Ocean,” in Volume 21. How did it come to be? Someone close to me struggled with substance abuse, and it’s very hard to know what to do in that situation. You want to help and be there for them, but where is the line...

Dear friends, contributors, and readers, As I pass along the mantle of Assistant Managing Editor and graduate from Hamline’s MFA program, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all for the incredible support and enthusiasm you have for...

1. Tell us about your poem “Coulee Kids” in Volume 21. How did it come to be? This poem is a commentary on the community where I grew up in western Wisconsin. I started writing it after hearing about the passing of the woman I mention in the poem, who was the mother...

1. Tell us about your essay, “Memory Palace,” from Volume 21. How did it come to be? I wrote “Memory Palace” to explore my experience of teaching poetry to older adults with memory loss, as well as the way memory has shifted in my own life through parenting a young...