Issue No. 10, 2016-17. Editor’s Notes

Curating this issue of West 10th has been a bittersweet experience for me. I’ve been on the editorial board of West 10th for three- fourths of my undergraduate career, and it is this year that I step away from both the journal and my time at NYU. Of all the things I must say goodbye to come May—my library privileges, my days spent reading and writing, my student discounts—saying goodbye to West 10th gives me the most heartache. Being involved with this journal offers the rare and extraordinary opportunity to make a beautiful physical home for the university’s best creative writing and art. I consider the two issues I’ve ushered through publication as Editor-in-Chief as the greatest treasures from my years at NYU.

All of my personal investment aside, West 10th is and always has been a collaborative effort, and that collaboration is an enormous part of what makes it so extraordinary. This year, we expanded our editorial board, adding more prose, poetry, and art editors than we’d had in the past few years. A number of those editors were past contributors, proving that our team attracts individuals who are not only great readers but strong writers. I’m grateful for their expertise and insight, but especially for their passion. This issue includes pieces we unanimously accepted, and others that editors debated over and fought for. The stories they tell differ in tone, purpose, and perspective—but all, we thought, were worth hearing.

We are only able to share these stories thanks to the unyielding support of the Creative Writing Program faculty. Joanna Yas is the pillar without which West 10th would crumble; I am so thankful for her enthusiasm, guidance, and willingness to embrace ideas. Our executive editors Matthew Rohrer and Darin Strauss took on the task of selecting our Editors’ Award recipients, and have always acted as amazing West 10th advocates. Aaron Petrovich is responsible for the beautiful design of these pages and deserves a huge acknowledgment for the amount of time and care that he put into them.

I’m indebted to Leslie Jamison for inviting me into her home to discuss writing, and especially for showing me the issue of the Harvard literary journal where she was first published as an undergraduate student. She answered my endless questions so elegantly, and I’m certain that any aspiring writer will appreciate and be inspired by her notes on craft. I’m also beholden to Alexandra Kleeman for sitting down with me in a busy Tribeca café to have one of the most lively conversations on fiction I’ve ever had. She articulated her outlook on her work with brilliance and humor (though readers won’t be able to see my enthusiastic nodding or hear my laughs in the interview transcription). I must give a resounding thank you to Jenny Zhang, who allowed us to publish two unbelievable poems, and who the editorial board was absolutely thrilled to include in this issue.

This edition of West 10th marks ten years since the journal’s founding. In the past decade, we’ve published student writers and artists—some of whom had never had bylines before—who go on to produce outstanding work in New York City and beyond. The 2016- 2017 issue is no different. Whether you are encountering West 10th for the first time or tenth, I urge you to soak in these pages, and all the beauty, intrigue, and wisdom enclosed in them.

Alyssa Matesic

Masthead

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Alyssa Matesic

MANAGING EDITOR

Juliette Maigné

POETRY EDITORS

Justin Hong
Shannagh Rowland

PROSE EDITOR

Su Young Lee

ASSISTANT POETRY EDITORS

E Yeon Chang
Jae Lee
Adam Young
Adnan Zarif

ASSISTANT PROSE EDITORS

Anetxy Barnes
Charisa Gunasekera
Rosalyn Lin
Benjamin Mok