The University of New Mexico Best Student Essays

Important Dates for Fall 2017

By Keriden Brown

Happy Fall 2017!

Fall 2017 Deadline

By Keriden Brown

Fall 2017 Deadline

November 1st

Submit here:

Magnifying the Mundane: A Critical Introduction to the Poetry of Matthew Zapruder

By Morgan Podraza
Since 2002, Matthew Zapruder has produced three volumes of poetry—American Linden, The Pajamaist, and Come On All You Ghosts—along with a forthcoming chapbook, The Odyssey, and has co-translated the final collection by late Russian poet Eugen Jebeleanu.

Fully Equipped

By Jeffrey Hertz
Wedged with my father between the two sides of the clunky carriage, I spotted spidery veins protruding from our runner’s left calf.

Spencer

By Alan Dahl
My friends and I laughed as the desperate screams danced in our ears. It was just what we wanted to hear coming from the little toy cabinet in my family room.

Women

By Kaitlin Jencso

I have often felt that the fabrication of the “ideal woman” is an outdated and damaging social construct that should be revaluated. Such confines separate women from the work-world, as well as from self-realization, alienating them from men and removing their individuality and human- ity. My work takes symbols of femininity and juxtaposes them with the reality of their emotional repercussions. The overall degradation and broken/shattered nature of the environment becomes the symbol of femininity, be it a dress, deer, or an actual woman.