NEWS: Whidbey MFA alumnae launch Los Angeles Review’s issue number six. Click here to see the article written by LA Review Managing Editor Nancy Boutin.
Congratulations to Dawn Allison, winner of October’s Student Choice contest.
THE MOURNING STAR
We sprawled out on the grass and watched the last of the smoke trails from the fireworks fade while parents herded their children into waiting SUVs. At first they’d clogged the parking lot, all trying to leave at once, but after a few minutes it cleared out and we were alone with the smoke. Then it, too, was gone. I watched Buddy pluck a blade of grass, taste its roots, and then pull a face. He discarded it and plucked another to the same effect. I could never really tell if he was being genuine or just entertaining me.
“Why do you suppose that star burns blue?” I asked. I knew the technical answer, but Buddy’s explanations were always better.
“S’pect it’s love,” he said. READ MORE
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received the 2009 Washington State Book Award for poetry, and Whidbey MFA faculty Bonny Becker received Honorable Mention for 
by graduate 
