WEBER—THE CONTEMPORARY WEST

 

AN INTERNATIONAL, PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL SPOTLIGHTING PERSONAL NARRATIVE, COMMENTARY, FICTION, NONFICTION, AND POETRY THAT SPEAKS TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE OF THE AMERICAN WEST AND BEYOND.

 

       

CURRENT ISSUE

VOL. 41, NO. 2 

(Spring/Summer 2025)

CONTENTS

Conversation
Siân Griffiths & Colum McCann; Jeremy Bryson, Jeffrey Montague & Jeff Speck; Abigail Mack, Mark A. Stevenson & Jason De León, Megan Marie Hamilton & the Ensemble of Indigenous Soundscapes in Motion; María del Mar González-González & Luis Álvaro Sahagún Nuño 

Art by Luis Álvaro Sahagún Nuño

Essay

Sandy Zhang, Maria Lupas, Bich-Ngoc Turner, Greg Lewis

Fiction

Charles Erven, Ron McFarland, Terry Sanville

Poetry

William Snyder, David Hargreaves, Laura Sobbott Ross, Joseph Powell, Jim Tilley, Lisa Bickmore, Richard Robbins

                                                   

“My new favorite phrase is, “I don’t know.” It’s a good phrase to arm yourself with—particularly in these times when we are all so certain of things. Often, as a writer, you don’t know what it is you’re doing. You’re flying by the seat of your pants and you’re hoping to God to get through the day. When you’re creating a novel, there are times when you just enter into the mystery and you’re hoping to pierce through and get to the other side. The one thing that I do know is that the tiny can reveal the great; small can become epic.”

—Colum McCann, Weber—The Contemporary West, 2025

 

HIGHLIGHTS

Kiki Petrosino

 

Nikole Hannah-Jones

 

Jeff Speck

 

 
 

FEATURED

COMMENTARY:

Reading The West Spring/Summer 2025

"A 2018 article in Cheese Connoisseur explains the role Utah State University has played in developing artisan cheesemaking in Utah. Utah State University food scientist Dr. Don McMahon has seen Utah’s cheesemaking contingent changing significantly in the past three decades, especially through the collaborative outreach of the USU-based Western Dairy Center mentoring new dairy businesses. . ."                                                                                                    

CONVERSATION:

Megan Marie Hamilton & The Ensemble of Indigenous Soundscapes in Motion

"Weber State University had the privilege of celebrating Native American culture and heritage with a once-in-a-lifetime performance by Indigenous Soundscapes in Motion, an ensemble of Native American and classical musicians, dancers, and poets combining music, words, and dance into a unique symphony for the eye, ear, and spirit. . . "                                                                                                                                                                  

 

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EDITORIAL BOARD

Phyllis Barber, author
Katharine Coles, University of Utah
Diana Joseph, Minnesota State University
Nancy Kline, author & translator
Delia Konzett, University of New Hampshire
Kathryn Lindquist, Weber State University
Fred Marchant, Suffolk University
Madonne Miner, Weber State University
Felicia Mitchell, Emory & Henry College
Julie Nichols, Utah Valley University
Tara Powell, University of South Carolina
Bill Ransom, Evergreen State College
Walter L. Reed, Emory University
Scott P. Sanders, University of New Mexico
Kerstin Schmidt, Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Daniel R. Schwarz, Cornell University
Andreas Ströhl, Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, South Africa
James Thomas, author
Robert Hodgson Van Wagoner, author
Melora Wolff, Skidmore College

EDITOR

Michael Wutz / mwutz@weber.edu

MANAGING EDITOR

Kristin Jackson / kristinjackson@weber.edu

 

An international, peer-reviewed journal spotlighting

personal narrative, commentary, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry

that speaks to the environment and culture of the American West and beyond.