One of the great experiences of my time at Bowling Green State University’s MFA program was the opportunity to get involved with editing Mid-American Review. My first year I was Assistant Fiction Editor, and my second year I moved on to Fiction Editor, during which time I was fortunate to have two very helpful Assistant Fiction Editors: Laura Maylene Walter (current Fiction Editor) and Sasha Khalifeh. The entire staff–from Editor-in-Chief Abby Cloud to the hardworking interns–was fantastic to work with, and the process of reading through and discussing the multifarious submissions was always interesting.
Discovering new writers was the highpoint of the time at MAR. One of several writers that stood out is Rose Whitmore. She was in MAR XXXIV.1 for “Avenue of the Giants”–a coming-of-age adventure of a teenage girl living at a struggling Bigfoot theme park set in the redwoods. Rose’s humor and compassion for her characters made this story rich with both depth and detail. Complex family issues and sharp prose. Rose is a writer to keep an eye on!
Check out Rose Whitmore’s bio so far: Rose Whitmore’s essays and stories have appeared in The Missouri Review, The Sun, Mid-American Review and Fourth Genre. She is the recipient of the 2013 Peden Prize from The Missouri Review, and a work-study scholarship from the Bread Loaf writer’s conference. She lives in San Diego where she is at work on a collection of personal essays and a collection of short stories.
For some reflections on the submission process from the editorial side, check out Laura Maylene Walter’s blog post here: http://lauramaylenewalter.com/?p=10777
And to keep up with MAR in general, check out Suzanne Hodsden’s updates for MAR’s blog:
http://casit.bgsu.edu/marblog/