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 2024 Edition
Fiction ~ Nonfiction ~ Scholarship ~ Poetry
Photography and Visual Art
Hello and Welcome from the Editors of The Palouse Review!
“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become”. -C.S. Lewis
As a third-year biology student and laboratory research assistant, my days are filled with studying the scientific and practical ways in which the world around us forms and functions. However, I have also had the privilege of being a part of the Palouse Review, where I can come together with my peers from various fields to discuss new and exciting pieces of art and literature from across the country, allowing myself and others to broaden our horizons and look at the world not through the lens of facts and data, but through the beautiful colors of emotions such as passion, sorrow, and happiness, tapping into the child-like wonder that all of us possess no matter our age.
Pieces such as Kendra Pinegar’s “Is Free Will a Facade?”, which details the complexity of having a sister who tried to commit suicide through the eyes of her younger sister and how religion can serve as an anchor during difficult times but yet can also cause us to doubt the very core of our beliefs. Following suit, Zach Brady’s “Mortui Vivos Docent” discusses this same complex topic, however, from the experiences of a physician who must come face to face with the hard questions about the realities and dignity of life as he assists his suffering patient in physician-assisted suicide. Finally, we end our edition with some wonderful photographs and visual art, such as Evan Taw’s “Summer Cold”, whose awe-inspiring photo of a snowy mountain landscape captured with a vintage touch serves as a wonderful depiction of the beautiful passage of time.
We’d also like to take some time to congratulate our editor graduating this semester:
Grant joined TPR in 2022 and has worked as Managing Editor, Poetry Executive Editor, and as an editor on the Fiction and Visual Arts teams.
Sarah De Santos | The Palouse Review Fiction Executive Editor & Marketing Editor
December 1st, 2024
Fiction
The Magpie
by Daniel Varela
A man walks alone in a desert far from home. He allows his mind to wander erratically as he takes in his desolate surroundings.
Mortui Vivos Docent
by Zach Brady
This piece follows a physician who is forced to tackle topics of death, spirituality, addiction, and family, as a beloved patient of hers faces a terminal diagnosis.
Content warning: physician assisted suicide
300
by Wilson DeLis
Geo Redstar wants to leave his planet in search of what he has lost.
Nonfiction
In Case of Fire
by Woodrow Walters
This is an excerpt from a chapbook I wrote about life and death. This piece focuses on fire and its influence on humanity through our modern lives.
Is Free Will a Facade?
by Kendra Pinegar
This essay explores the question as to why bad things happen using an interdisciplinary approach that examines bad things in terms of genetic mutations, political dictatorships, and religious themes of the definition of God. The discussion incorporates elements of a personal experience that led to the arisal of the question and how this personal experience can be understood through the lens of understanding that comes from interdisciplinary research.
Content warning: suicide
Lamentation of a Little Girl 1997—June, Mbuji Mayi
by D.Merci Mbiya
Mice Droppings
by Kadra Guillermo
This essay is a reflection on discovering dead mice in the backyard and the philosophical concerns that follow.
Scholarship
Not Knitting for Nothing: The Case for Fiber Arts
by Lily Lieberman
This research paper was written and completed in spring 2024, as a condition of Lily’s graduation from the University Honors program. After submitting her research, Lily gave a thirty-minute presentation at the University Honors Conference, where she argued for the widespread teaching of fiber arts before an audience of peers, professors, and other attendees.
Reframing the Narrative Around Imposter Syndrome in Higher Education
by Amy Nguyen
This paper explores Imposter Syndrome through an institutional lens, addressing the ways in which imposterization occurs in academia, and discussing/es solutions from an organizational and institutional standpoint in an attempt to achieve more inclusive, diverse, and efficient academic standards.
“She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom”: Feminism and Patriarchy in The Scarlet Letter
by Lily Lieberman
This essay approaches Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter from a new angle, reconsidering the subtextual messages of female power in a book that is infamous for showing the punishment of an independent woman in Puritan society.
The Wrath of God and Government: Remembering the Chernobyl Disaster
by Matthew Bunge
This paper analyzes the design of three local memorials in the city of Chernobyl, using a mixture of design decisions and historical and religious context to show how Ukrainians developed memory of the tragedy. Analysis highlights the unique landscape the Soviet Union’s censorious policies created for mourning and memory development.
Poetry
a body, consuming
by Annilka Lee
“a body, consuming” was originally written for a poetry class, and is about the struggles of gender dysphoria, which is when someone’s body does not match up to what they imagine themselves to look like.
Blueberries & Powdered Sugar
by Mia Hale
This work dives into how Alzheimer’s can quickly change a relationship, for this author, specifically the one between her and her grandmother. Using familiar flavors and summer imagery, the poem attempts to weave together notes of nostalgia with the devastating sensation of someone slowly slipping away.
Clamshell
by Indiana Plant
In this poem, I moon on a past relationship through the beachy landscape. There is a struggle to move on. I grapple with the contrast between the beauty of the coast and memories that are too fresh to cherish yet too powerful to forget. Like a clamshell bleached wide open in Oregon sun, I find myself with no pearl and no memento to hold onto.
Hurricane Beryl
by Indiana Plant
In this poem from the perspective of Hurricane Beryl, a tropical cyclone that devastated the Caribbean and Gulf Coast this summer, the narrative of nature’s voracious power is made manifest. Beryl revels in the chaos; she yearns to consume everything in her path. She envisions a feast, her glut filled with the rich screams of people who forsake her motherlike beauty in the first place.
Multipurpose Handwashing
by Tiffany Nguyen
This poem describes having an unbearable emotional weight and an unhealthy coping mechanism. In an environment full of external pressures, one may feel like they’re better off internalizing their thoughts and feelings.
To Rot Orange
by Mckenzie Siudzinski
An elderly man aging in his childhood home.
Weeds and Dandelions
by Mckenzie Siudzinski
Miscellaneous thoughts about growth, grief, and the guilt that comes with inevitability.
Photography and Visual Art
Olivia
Isabella Weatherell
Scuba Sue
Spencer Petticrew
Lord Stanley
Alec Barran
Foggy Harbor
Spencer Petticrew
At Rest
Alec Barran
Face to Face
Evan Taw
Eulogy
Emilio Rafael Lovillo Farfan
Against Darkness
Alec Barran
The Narrows
Alec Barran
Whizzing By
Elaine Nguyen
Summer Cold
Evan Taw
Coming into town after a day’s work
Spencer Petticrew
Olivia
by Isabella Weatherell
I used 35mm black and white film to create a in-camera double exposure for this photo. I wanted to layer the textures of grass and leaves with a woman’s hair. I played with different lightings and blacks and whites color blockings to have some control over the opacity level. However I had no idea how it would turn out until I finished the development and scanning process. The surprise element was the best part of the experience for me.
Scuba Sue
by Spencer Petticrew
Scuba Sue is a brown bear who lives just off of Wrangell Island, Alaska. She likes to fish for salmon in Anan Creek, a haven for both black and brown bears who are bulking up for hibernation. She dives underwater for minutes on end, earning her the local title of Scuba Sue.
Lord Stanley
by Alec Barran
A view across Lions Gate Bridge from Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC
Foggy Harbor
by Spencer Petticrew
Fog drifting through the quiet harbor. Petersburg, Alaska.
At Rest
by Alec Barran
Abandoned red sedan near Bloomington, IN.
Face to Face
by Evan Taw
Digital Photograph; Half Dome from the across the Yosemite Valley on North Dome in Yosemite National Park, California.
Eulogy
by Emilio Rafael Lovillo Farfan
Nothing to see–neither above nor below.
Against Darkness
by Alec Barran
Fern sprouting from a cut tree trunk at VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, BC.
The Narrows
by Alec Barran
Looking up at the Virgin River ravine walls at Zion National Park in Utah.
Whizzing by
by Elaine Nguyen
Photo shot with iPhone 14 Pro. Saigon, Vietnam.
Summer Cold
by Evan Taw
Digital photograph; snow from the Washington Pass Overlook; Mazama, Washington.
Coming into town after a day’s work
by Spencer Petticrew
Fishing is a vital part of Wrangell, Alaska’s culture and economy. Coming into the harbor during sunset is a hallmark for the end of a day’s work out on the water.
About Our Authors
Daniel Varela
Irvine Valley College
Daniel Varela is a student at Irvine Valley College majoring in History. He has had an interest in writing for as long as he can remember and uses the medium to express himself outside of academics.
Zach Brady
Utah State University
Zach Brady (he/him) is a senior at Utah State University pursuing a BS in English with a minor in Chemistry. Zach loves writing and presenting his work. He has published written pieces through USU’s Sink Hollow Magazine and Cherish: The Love of Our Mother in Heaven Volume 2. In addition to written works, he also writes and produces music, much of which has gone on to win awards through Scribendi Magazine and the Zappers Film Festival. Zach loves playing the guitar, eating good sushi, and traveling abroad with his wife—Cassidy. After graduation, Zach plans to apply to medical school, with hopes to further understand humanity through medicine.
Wilson DeLis
Washington State University
I am a sophomore enrolled in the honors college at WSU. I plan to double major in psychology and environmental science. This is a short fictional story that I created for an honors creative writing class, and I felt as though I went above and beyond the criteria.
Woodrow Walters
Utah State University
My name is Woodrow Walters. I live in Logan, Utah, and have been writing seriously for a little over a year. I have been lucky enough to secure one publication with The Writer’s Cache, and was recently made a co-editor of nonfiction with Sinkhollow, the undergraduate literary magazine published by students at Utah State University. I write a mixture of fiction and nonfiction, and hope you enjoy what you read of my work. Thanks so much for considering my work.
Kendra Pinegar
Brigham Young University
Kendra Pinegar is a third-year student at Brigham Young University studying International Relations and Spanish. She is passionate about research in general but is currently researching public support for and definitions of democracy in Latin America. Upon graduation, Kendra plans to attend law school and hopes to work in the realm of international law and democracy in the future.
D.Merci Mbiya
Arizona State University
Merci was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo) and migrated to South Africa at the age of two due to the ongoing civil war. He currently resides in the United States, where he is a student at Arizona State University and a member of the Barrett Honors College, majoring in Biology and physics. Prior to this, Merci graduated with honors and obtained an Associate of Science degree from Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell, Montana. His ultimate goal is to become a neurosurgeon and author. Merci’s love for mathematics, science, and medicine motivated him to contribute positively to effect change in his community. He has continued to stay close to his roots through the illumination and raising of social and political issues affecting Africa and the world community as a whole. He desires to act as a beacon of hope for the speechless.
Kadra Guillermo
University of New Mexico
Kadra Guillermo is a junior majoring in English-Philosophy at the University of New Mexico. A world without writing is a world that Kadra wouldn’t want to live in. She has previously been published in the 2024 volume of Conceptions Southwest and has served as the Managing Editor of Scribendi.
Lily Lieberman
Chapman University
Lily is a senior studying creative writing, and a champion overthinker. She was “a pleasure to have in class,” circa 2009-2016, and has since become somewhat tolerable instead.
Amy Nguyen
San Mateo County Community College
Amy Nguyen is a first-generation Vietnamese American student pursuing higher education focusing on Sociology, Law, Psychology, and Political Science. Her academic work is grounded in social activism and the pursuit of political change. Previous research experience includes presenting at the Annual Stanford Honors Symposium and College of San Mateo’s Showcase. They believe that solidarity is an essential act of resistance and a catalyst for meaningful societal transformation.
Matthew Bunge
Washington State University
Matthew is a senior studying Quantitative Economics at Washington State University. A firm believer in the value of intermingling social sciences, Matthew uses a range of techniques from across social sciences to explore times of crisis throughout history.
Annika Lee
University of California, Irvine
Annika Lee is a second year Environmental Science and Policy major at the University of California, Irvine. Outside of writing poetry, they enjoy baking, reading, and going for walks with their dog. They can often be found going on boba or café runs, if they aren’t at a bookstore.
Mia Hale
Western Washington University
Mia Hale is a 19 year old attendee of Western Washington University double majoring in political science and Spanish language and culture. Her love for writing spans across genres, but she is currently enthralled by lyrical essays and poetry. Although she is just beginning to venture her way into the world of writing contests and literary journals, she looks to the future with high hopes and determination.
Indiana Plant
University of Utah
Indiana Plant is a freshman and Eccles Scholar studying Quantitative Analysis and Anthropology at the University of Utah. Her poetry has been published by the Live Poets Society of NJ and has received an Honorable Mention in the Penguin Random House U.S. Creative Writing Awards. She is interested in literature, ethnographical research, user experience, and behavioral economics. In her free time, Indiana likes to walk to her neighborhood graveyard and dreams about a career at the Smithsonian.
Tiffany Nguyen
University of Utah
Tiffany is a second-year student at the University of Utah Honors College. She is studying biology and public health while finding time to write on the side. Inspired by her Honors classmates and teacher, she hopes to use poetry as a way to bring her healing and learn more about herself.
Mckenzie Siudzinski
Irvine Valley College
Mckenzie Siudzinski is a writer in southern California with a love for cows and butterscotch hard candies.
Isabella Weatherell
California State University, Northridge
Isabella is a CSUN student majoring in Cinema and Television Arts with an emphasis in film editing. She enjoys filmmaking, rock climbing and learning new things. She has recently taken up film photography. Her passion for art blends with her love of spending time outdoors which is reflected in much of her work.
Spencer Petticrew
Boise State University
Spencer Petticrew is a photographer studying neuroscience at Boise State University. While not loyal to a single genre, he attempts to document what he sees with a camera. His goal is to showcase the beauty and complexities of the world around us. Besides the visual arts, he also enjoys playing the piano.
Alec Barran
Washington State University
Alec is a senior studying Computer Science at Washington State University. He enjoys traveling and exploring the outdoors, using his camera to document his experiences. At Washington State, he is also a member of the Track and Cross Country programs and an officer of the Cyber Security Group.
Elaine Nguyen
Irvine Valley College
Elaine Nguyen is a second-year Biological Sciences student at Irvine Valley College. She loves to travel and document the natural wonders that she encounters.
Evan Taw
California State University, Northridge
Evan Taw is a junior studying Exercise Science at California State University, Northridge. Professionally, he is a sports photographer/videographer but enjoys landscape photography as a hobby. His landscapes depict the relationship between mankind and nature, displaying a dynamic of grandeur and emotion in surreality. Outside of photography, he has worked as an athletic training student aide and a gigging musician. He enjoys lifting weights and keeping up with the most recent medical/exercise science literature and federal caselaw.
