Our sister journal, Water~Stone Review recently stumbled on some good news. It seems two stories were picked up as notable mentions in The Best of American Short Stories and Sports Writing. 

Full transparency, I also work as managing editor for both WSR and every year we send the journal out to all of the editors of The Best American series. It may have been the first time we ever sent the issue directly to The Best of American Sports Writing because we had, what felt like to us, our first piece that had clear sports focus. (Shout out to Michael Gracey and his piece, The Future Perfect.)

It was to our great surprise and glee that the notable mention went to Karleigh Frisbie and her piece, Two-Piece, in which swimming is but the background device for a memory unlocked. It is an artfully crafted piece allowing us access to the interior life of a preteen girl navigating trust and the confusion of desire.

We love this piece. We love that a piece in which the thirteen-year old narrator proclaims not only that “Kids are lame.”, but that “Sports are lame.”, gets a notable mention in The Best American Sports Writing. 

And it is exactly this kind of work we want for the Under Review. Send us your stories and poems where big things happen off the field, the pitch, the pool, and the court. Let those places stand as backdrop or simply as the device to get to the moment worth telling. 

With permission from Water~Stone Review, we have linked to Karleigh’s story Two-Piece. You may also want to check out her interview with the journal which also links to the other two pieces published in Vol. 21.