Our Flashback Friday picks this week are from Kate Irwin, our fiction coordinator and blog editor. In preparation for reading the fresh fiction submissions this year, Kate picked the fiction piece, Silicon Soul, by Sean Semanko, paired with the elegant artwork, The French Dancer, by Kaitlyn Innerst.
Fiction: Silicon Soul by Sean Semanko
Originally Published: 2018
“In browsing through past KLIO fiction submissions, I found myself drawn into Sean Semanko’s 2018 piece, Silicon Soul. The short fiction offered a unique glimpse into grief, which is often a fascinating topic to write about and explore. I particularly enjoyed Semanko’s use of details: mentioning the song Claire de Lune as a trigger for beautiful memories, the slow grief of eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch at the kitchen table alone after the death of a spouse. In grief, it sometimes feels like these miniscule details are heightened — as our brains are hazy and confused by grief, the smallest moments are thrown into a harsher light. The other element of Semanko’s piece that really pulled me in was the moral questions that were raised by Semanko. The concept of the values of lives and if one person’s life holds more value than another’s was a heartbreaking and fascinating topic.”
Art: The French Dancer by Kaitlyn Innerst
Originally Published: 2019
“Kaitlyn Innerst’s stunning piece, The French Dancer, is breathtaking upon first glance and somehow becomes even more beautiful the longer I look at it. The black and white piece focused on a young woman reaching toward a bouquet of umbrellas above her is timeless and elegant, and the title only adds to that sentiment. The position of the dancer is graceful, as she stretches to grasp and yet is unable to reach the umbrellas dangling above her head. I cannot decide if the piece is hopeful or heartbreaking, and I find the ambiguity lovely.”