The Palouse Review is the biannual arts and academics journal of the Washington State University Honors College. We accept submissions from current and former honors students from throughout the Western Regional Honors Council. Our editors are looking for carefully crafted, evocative work that demonstrates the literary, artistic, and academic excellence of our broader honors community.
The Palouse Review, December 1st 2021 Edition
Fiction ~ Nonfiction ~ Scholarship ~ Poetry
~ Photography and Visual Art ~ Music
On behalf of the editorial team – Welcome to the December 1st, 2021 Edition of The Palouse Review!
Unsurprisingly, themes of a pandemic era emerged in this installment. I hope that you find our selections to be insightful and encouraging as we move forward into a new year.
Psychedelic meets classical in four musical compositions and the scholarship category is equally as enticing with an evident geographical motif in the three pieces.
Kicking off non-fiction, learn “How to Focus a Camera” in Lauren Fontanilla’s writing of camera basics and familial ties made by generational photography. Rahul Almeida’s inquisitive and introspective “My Passion” transcribes how the author’s own beating heart became the catalyst for his life calling. Settle in for Lindsey Gallagher’s “So You Want to Hear Me Talk About Apples” to uncover the origin of the apple down to the joys of a girl’s insatiable hunger for Golden Delicious to Fuji. Paul Guajardo adds three works, “The Duck Pond”, “Narcissists, Solipsists, or Creative Writers?”, and “Guadalajara”. His historically and geographically informed perspective in “Duck” and “Guadalajara” make for enlightening reads.
A trio of fiction are fairy, fruit, and flower filled. Camryn Youchzee’s “Fairyland” portrays escapism from household traumas from the perspective of protagonist Isabella. Jewel Blanchard’s “Apricots” joins cherished memories with the tastes of a parent’s favorite fruit. In “Blown Away”, Samantha Veres personifies the terror of the wind through the friendship of homeschooled Emma and a peculiar fellow named Dan D. Leon.
The collection of poetry begins with Georgie Suico delving into the desperations of isolated life in quarantine and Tristan Trudell’s Everything A Part journals life sans human connection and the untold joys of nature bathing. Bees take over in feast for all and brilliant colors adorn the body of a hurt woman in torn canvas, both of Melissa Roe’s poems bursting with provocative imageries. Hannah Potts explores alternate fates for Earth through If I die tomorrow and Candy Candles by Zoe Butler pungently considers the innerworkings and risks of relationships. Alison Blake’s Woman of Two Waters and Some Kind of Ripening beckon, conveying August jewels and honey hills.
As always, photography and visual arts offers a diversified grouping of disparate methods. Magazine clipping collage boldly expresses the often hidden pains of mental illness in Alexandra Bruno’s Recovery: Behind Closed Doors. Three monochromatic snapshots make-up Emma Hippler’s suite of darkened subjects, allowing viewers to clearly focus through a limited lens. Huaji Lui transports to an intergalactic, cherry-blossomed mountainscape in Cyberpunk and reminisces dance recitals in Backstage at a Guzheng Concert. Visual art by Nadia Jokiman returns to The Palouse Review with her beloved feline friends and vibrant, playful scenes in side hustle and alone together. There is no shortage of evening skies with Sabrina Jordan capturing dramatic clouds and pinprick stars in aptly titled Starry Clouds and Oscar Diaz contributing two sunsets, one warm and another akin to the Northern Lights in Sunset in Seaside and Driftwood Lagoon. Asher Furedy rounds out our grouping with Ash & Atlas, a zoomed female form.
While this season of life has posed unique challenges, this edition’s picks prove that artistry has flourished amidst trying times. We look forward to receiving your Spring 2022 submissions.
Best regards,
Geneva Schlepp | The Palouse Review Photography/Visual Arts & Poetry Editor
December 1st, 2021
Fiction
Apricots
by Jewel Blanchard (Southern Oregon University)
Jewel Blanchard is an apricot lover first, and a short story author second. She attends Southern Oregon University and is a part of the Honors College there. Jewel studies English and plans on a career in teaching after graduate school.
Blown Away
by Samantha Veres (Southern Oregon University)
Samantha Veres is an avid writer with an erratic personality and an obsessive pull towards anything strange. With a passion for story-telling, she spends most of her time writing poetry, short stories, and fantasy.
Fairyland
by Camryn Youchzee (California State University, Long Beach)
Camryn is an undergraduate student at California State University, Long Beach who is part of the University Honors Program. She is the Lead Online Editor of the Honors Program magazine, the Honor Code, and has always been passionate about creative writing. Camryn is currently pursuing a degree in Psychology and hopes to continue her studies into graduate school.
Nonfiction
My Passion
by Rahul Almeida (University of California, Riverside)
Rahul is in University Honors at UC Riverside. He is currently studying Biochemistry and hopes to go to medical school in the future. Rahul is part of the Healthy Hearts and Project Sunshine clubs at UCR. He is passionate about learning cardiology and aspires to become a heart surgeon. His favorite hobbies include hanging out with friends, playing basketball, reading, and watching medical dramas.
How to Focus a Camera
by Lauren Fontanilla (Western Washington University)
Lauren Fontanilla is a 4th year Honors student at Western Washington where she’s pursuing a degree in English with a writing emphasis and a minor in film studies. On-campus, she works in the school’s Digital Media Center as a video production assistant and podcast host.
So You Want To Hear Me Talk About Apples
by Lindsey Gallagher (University of Montana)
Lindsey Gallagher is a student at the University of Montana. She is majoring in English, with a focus in creative writing, and minoring in Wilderness Studies. Hailing from the shores of New York, now calling Montana her home, she spends her time running and exploring the mountains.
Narcissists, Solipsists, or Creative Writers?
by Paul Guajardo (Brigham Young University)
Paul Guajardo is a senior double majoring in English and history and minoring in Latin American studies at Brigham Young University. His current research focuses on Equatorial Guinea (the only Spanish-speaking African country) and Mexican American writers. When he is not in the library, you can probably find him running (out of money), debating the merits of cherry-flavored candy, or annoying his roommates by playing the guitar.
Scholarship
The (Re)Construction of Crime in Soviet Russia
by Zahran Austin (Weber State University)
Zahran is a history major at Weber State University, with plans to go on to Grad School soon.
Media as a Tool for Regime Stability and Personality Cult-Building in Turkmenistan
by Hannah Butler (University of Nevada, Reno)
Hannah Butler is a junior at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is studying history and international affairs with an emphasis on modern Asia. She also works with international exchange programs at the Northern Nevada International Center.
A Seat at the Table: Tribal Representation in American Legislatures
by Zachary Mangels (University of Montana)
Zach is a second-year political science and sociology student at the University of Montana who is unsure what to do with his degrees.
Poetry
Woman of Two Waters
by Alison Blake (Crafton Hills College)
Alison has pitiful time management skills and can be too hedonistic for her parents’ liking, but compensates in her overzealousness for letting waiting cars into her lane and always locking the front door behind her. She thinks people walking in the evening, green olives, and tenderness are of the most beautiful things in the world. She is a sociology major at Crafton Hills College, but spends more time thinking about intriguing classes than what she wants to do with her degree.
Candy Candles
by Zoe Butler (University of California, Riverside)
Zoe Butler is a passionate writer who fills her journal as an escape from the struggles presented throughout life, and the beauty within the journey. She is a sophomore at the University of California, Riverside, and is pursuing a career in Psychology as her undergraduate major. Emotion drives her and her work and the connections she seeks throughout people and the world, and her poetry is the vessel.
If I die tomorrow
by Hannah Potts (University of Nevada, Reno)
Hannah Potts is a junior at the University of Nevada, Reno studying geography with an emphasis in environmental policy and management. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, reading, and writing in the great outdoors and is always excited for the next adventure.
torn canvas
by Melissa Roe (University of California, Riverside)
Melissa Roe is a third-year student at the University of California, Riverside, majoring in English and Creative Writing. She has ambitions to pursue writing in multiple fields after graduation, with the highest hopes for graphic novels and video games. She aspires to write her first book by age twenty-five.
quarantine
by Georgie Suico (California State University, Long Beach)
Georgie Suico is a graduating political science student and research assistant from California State University, Long Beach. She spends her free time exploring the world on Google Street View.
Everything A Part
by Tristan Trudell (Western Washington University)
Tristan is a sophomore at Western Washington University. He plans to pursue a degree in journalism. In his free time, Tristan enjoys writing, singing, and many other aspects of the creative arts. He is also a strong lover of tennis, stand-up comedy, and two particular Australian Shepherd dogs. His work has been published in the Palouse Review (if you’re reading this).
Photography and Visual Art
Alexandra Bruno
Recovery and What’s Behind Closed Doors
Oscar Diaz
Sunset in Seaside
Oscar Diaz
Driftwood Lagoon
Asher Furedy
Ash & Atlas
Emma Hippler
Destruction
Emma Hippler
Into the Void
Syed Abid Kazmi
The Yellow Sky
Nadia Jokiman
alone together
Nadia Jokiman
side hustle
Sabrina Jordan
Starry Clouds
Huaji Liu
Cyber Evoke
Huaji Liu
Backstage at Guzheng ConcertAlexandra Bruno (Pima Community College)
Alexandra is a 22-year-old part-time student from Tucson, Arizona. She is striving to finish school with dreams of being an art therapist. Creativity is her main outlet for her physical and mental health recovery.
Oscar Diaz (Mt. San Antonio Community College)
My name is Oscar G. Diaz Jr. I am 45 years old and I am striving to become a Deaf Parent Interpreter (DPI). I was born and raised in the Deaf community. Both of my parents are Deaf as well as many extended family members. I grew up interpreting and have come to the realization that I want to further my relationship with the Deaf community by getting my degree in Sign Language/Interpreting. I am currently enrolled at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA. I am on target to graduate with my Associate of Science degree in Sign Language/Interpreting in Spring of 2022.
Asher Furedy (Northern Arizona University)
Asher is a student artist from Phoenix, Arizona who loves to oil paint and draw (mostly people) in her free time. She truly found her love for art during her time in high school, as prior to that Asher had never taken an art class. Asher is currently majoring in Business Management and minoring in Spanish as a first year student at Northern Arizona University. She looks forward to seeing how her art will evolve during her college years.
Emma Hippler (University of Portland)
Emma Hippler is a second-year college student at the University of Portland double majoring in Political Science and Spanish. She enjoys photography, sketching, and creative writing in her free time. Since her early childhood, these creative outlets have provided healthy modes of self-expression and ways of escaping reality.
Nadia Jokiman (Mt. San Antonio College)
Nadia has been passionate about making art ever since she was little. Her goal is to become an illustrator/animator in the future. Besides drawing, she also likes to listen to music, study Japanese and recently learn how to ride a skateboard.
Sabrina Jordan (Pima Community College)
Sabrina Jordan is a college student attending Pima Community College. She is majoring in Digital Film Arts & Animation, and she plans on transferring to the U of A to receive her bachelors degree. Sabrina is a really creative person who spends her free time drawing and exploring different sceneries. She hopes to become a famous animator one day.
Syed Abid Kazmi (Mt. San Antonio College)
Syed Abid Kazmi is a freshman at Mt San Antonio College in Walnut, CA. He is also a budding entrepreneur, with an S-corporation who is working on building his dream, and on his journey to educating himself so that he can learn and apply to be successful in life.
Huaji Liu (Mt. San Antonio College)
Huaji Liu currently studies at Mt. San Antonio College. In her free time, she enjoys photography and drawing.
Music
“I’m Nobody!”
by Joseph Alvarez (Mt. San Antonio College)
Joseph Alvarez is a student composer at Mt. San Antonio College, planning on majoring in music composition and working as a professor.
“A Musician’s Darkest Fear is Math”
by Jonathan Cline (Las Positas College)
Jonathan Cline, IEEE, is an early student in music composition, fusing an interest in electric guitar and heavy metal music with classical orchestration. He views a masterpiece in music as a feat of engineering, hence the theme of several of his works, “Architecting Music,” released through his artist page, www.superblonde.org.
Les Fleurs de Printemps
by Lucian Kennelly (University of Portland)
Lucian Kennelly was born in Helena, Montana, and moved to Portland when he was 6 years old, and continues to live in Portland, Oregon. He went to a very small middle and high school called Trinity Academy and then decided to attend the University of Portland. He is an Electrical Engineering Major and is considering minoring in Music.
Into The Black Dwarf
by Malcolm Young (Scottsdale Community College)
Malcolm Young is a student at Scottsdale Community College, majoring in both audio production technologies and film production. With a lifelong passion for art and nature, Malcolm enjoys various creative fields such as story writing, poetry, photography, and field recording while exploring the natural world. He is heavily influenced by the aesthetics of neofolk, doom metal, and Indian raga music; and likes to use art to venture into spaces of dreariness and surrealism.
