The Cincinnati Review
In April, The Cincinnati Review published my story “Mirror” in their MiCRo series. I’ve been reading excellent work from this series for years and was very happy they selected this piece to include.
Here’s what Assistant Editor Haley Crigger had to say about my micro:
I love a good, long sentence, almost as much as I love this tenacious young girl, “fierce as a seagull” as she tries to steal the narrator’s yellow purse. Reminiscent of Virginia Woolf’s cave systems, the brief moment captured in “Mirror” reveals time in all its dimensions and reversals: a scar that is a reminder and a warning; an Hermès bag that is both bait and switch; an attack that is an endless cycle and its interruption, a violation and a sign that “our day is off to a good start.”
Haley Crigger, assistant editor from The Cincinnati Review
Thank you, Haley!
Author, editor, and tutor, Michael Loveday featured my story on his blog. He not only reviewed the piece, but turned it into a teaching moment and writing prompt for other authors.
A remarkable aspect of Polders’s story is the way that the story-world gradually shifts and modulates, even though the core action – the attempted stealing of a shoulder bag – is quite simple. (The simple clarity and boldness of that action, I think, help keep this piece grounded.) New clauses in the developing sentence introduce subtle moral shifts and character nuances as we keep reading.
Michael Loveday
Thank you, Michael!
I remember writing this story during the SmokeLong Summer Workshop of 2022. Thanks to the superb teachers & writing prompts and the super supportive environment, I wrote many new flash fictions and essays and placed two of them in dream journals. I can recommend it to anyone who can use a creative push. It’s not too late to join the SmokeLong Summer Workshop 2023.
Curious about “Mirror?” Please read my story on The Cincinnati Review website.
Looking for more? Please find links to more of my work on my published short prose page.
