Our Flashback Friday picks this week are from Lauren Shovlin, our nonfiction coordinator and assistant blog editor. In her excitement to read the new nonfiction submissions this year, Lauren picked the nonfiction piece, It Is All In The Footnotes, by Austin Shay, paired with the black and white photograph, The Fisherman, by Helen Sun.
Nonfiction: It Is All In The Footnotes by Austin Shay
Originally Published: 2016
“I enjoyed this for many different reasons, one reason being its creativity. I find it so creative that Shay’s title refers to legitimate footnotes in this writing, where he exposes his mother’s boyfriend, Kerry, as a heroin addict and as a terrible influence on his mother who claims to be a ‘recovering’ drug addict. I also felt that I could genuinely relate to the dialogue in this piece, as I believe many students have felt similarly when their parents visit, and the dynamic is often awkward and uncomfortable. I find this piece so creative because, for the most part, the actual text itself is not too revealing and could be considered rather generic, but the footnotes provide the context and real substance of this whole situation. Overall, I was riveted by this piece and thought Shay did a great job of furthering the plot.”
Art: The Fisherman by Helen Sun
Originally Published: 2019
“There is so much I love about Helen Sun’s The Fisherman. The simplicity of the man looking over the pier’s railing down into the water reminds me so much of my family and our fishing excursions. I love the camera’s focus on the defined and stark black fishing pole, with the surrounding ocean slightly blurred. The black outline of the figure draws my attention and causes me to question what he is looking at down in the water. I love the simplicity of this image, with its minimalist use of black and white to capture the simple action of looking down into the water.”