Letter from the Editor

I peeled my orange 
That was so bright against 
The gray of December 
That, from some distance, 
Someone might have thought 
I was making a fire in my hands.
– Gary Soto, “Oranges”

One of my favorite poems is “Oranges” by Gary Soto. It begins, “The first time I walked / With a girl, / I was twelve, / Cold, and weighted down / With two oranges in my jacket.” Even though I now choose to live in the desert, I am still wonder-filled by the idea of snow blanketing everything as far as you can see. In college I often walked twenty or thirty minutes from my residence hall to downtown Cedar Falls, Iowa. I loved the tree-lined streets, many of which were named after trees: Olive and Walnut, and then my favorite misplaced name in the Midwest Plains, Tremont. My favorite part of the walk was the brightly colored Victorian homes with large porches that had swings and the occasional broken-down sofa that indicated that university students lived there.

Whether it’s alone or with someone else, walking is my favorite way to connect with the world. Soto’s poem calls upon all of these feelings of wonder that accompany winter and youth while telling us about the first time he took a girl on a walk. As the story moves forward we eventually end up in a grocery where he is short of the money he needs to buy the girl a chocolate. Without saying a word he presents the clerk with a nickel and one orange, and the clerk accepts the payment. If the poem had ended there, it still would have been a beautiful story. But what gets me everytime is the way Soto brings back the forgotten orange that is still in the boy’s pocket. All of the goodness, all of the generosity up to this point transforms an every day orange into a kind of fiery hope for what is still to come.

For the Winter Issue the editors have gathered stories that like Soto’s poem draw us closer. Whether it is a look at a memory, the season, or our relationships with others and the world, these stories light up as we read them. Carolyn Abram joined us as Flash Fiction Guest Editor. We’re thrilled with her picks. Be sure to read her notes on selections. This issue also contains our nominations for Best of the Net and Best Microfiction.

We’re currently closed for submissions, but we will reopen on February 1st. All submissions in the queue are still under consideration for the Spring Issue. 

On behalf of The Citron Review, wherever you are this Winter, we wish you and yours well.

Angela M. Brommel
Editor-in-Chief
Poetry Editor
The Citron Review

INSET IMAGE ABOVE: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. “Winter scene, Bronx River, New York” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1910.

IMAGE AT RIGHT: Orange Flavored Ice Candies from The Paul Ricafrente Collection

Masthead

Table of Contents

Poetry

Notes on the selections by Angela M. Brommel

Creative Nonfiction

Notes on the selections by Ronit Plank

Flash Fiction

Notes on the selections by Guest Editor Carolyn Abram

Micros

Notes on the selections by JR Walsh

Zest

Find our best interviews and reviews.

2023 Year End Nominations

Best of the Net Nominations 2024
Best Microfiction Nominations 2024