Letter from the Editor

… Now I’m walking again
To the beat of a drum
And I’m counting the steps to the door of your heart
– Crowded House, Don’t Dream It’s Over 

The issue is late, and it’s my fault.

I got my very first puppy four days ago. Before The Puppy – four days ago – I never believed in puppies who ate homework, but I did naively believe in work that could be done while puppies were sleeping. 

Our Winter Issue brings us to the end of 2021. In it you will find a longer issue featuring twenty-six writers plus our award nominees, nominations for Best of the Net, The Pushcart Prize, and Best Microfiction. We wish good luck to all of our nominees.  Zest features Creative Nonfiction Editor Charlotte Hamrick’s interview with Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar.

In the past few years I have come to treasure the editors’ letters regarding the selections. I love hearing their thoughts on what made a “short form shimmer”, and they often reveal small portions of their private and literary lives.

The work in this issue is exceptional. Although I have read it a number of times through the selection and editing process, I am really looking forward to reading each work again as our readers will see it. Like replaying music from an earlier time, stories revisited again and again are embedded with our history and what we hear in the moment. Such stories bring comfort in the long winter.

The last time I lived with a dog was in the 80s. Growing up, I thought it was incredibly unfair that the dog was my mother’s. I didn’t know how they choose you. Since I already live with two cats, a dog was not in my plans. But I have learned that while some say planning is a dream in action, life still happens. 

Today, four days after her arrival,  I  know The Puppy’s name: Emma for “whole”, Metta for “kindness”, and the name she came with: Pearl. It’s a big name for a mini bernedoodle, but when you know, you know. 

To our current readers and writers, thank you for spending 2021 with us. To our new readers, thank you for adding us to your reading list. We appreciate your written words and your readership. The constancy of editing and reading work that gives witness to stories lived and imagined through human experiences has been a safe harbor over these difficult years.

On behalf of The Citron Review and its editors, may this season and the new year bring good things to the door of your heart. 

Warmly,

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

Masthead

Table of Contents

Poetry

Notes on the selections by Eric Steineger

Creative Nonfiction

Notes on the selections by Charlotte Hamrick

Flash Fiction

Notes on the selections by Elizabeth De Arcos

Micros

Notes on the selections by JR Walsh

Zest

This issue features an interview with a very recent contributor.

2021 Year End Nominations

Best of the Net

Best Microfiction

The Pushcart Prize

Best Small Fictions