Jason Lee Brown teaches writing at Eastern Illinois University and is a contributing editor to River Styx. He has received awards from the Illinois Arts Council, Academy of American Poets, and Illinois Press Association. He is editor (with Jay Prefontaine) of the 2011 edition of New Stories from the Midwest.Shanie Latham is Assistant Professor of English at Jefferson College, Missouri. She is Managing Editor at River Styx.

"As this fresh anthology proves, there's a mix of writers and sensibilities that inhabit the literary Midwest as to make the term unpredictable."—Stuart Dybek, MacArthur Fellow and author of The Coast of Chicago

• ContentsAcknowledgments Editors' NoteIntroduction1. Mr. Scary Charles Baxter from Ploughshares2. To Psychic UnderworldDan Chaonfrom Tin House3. Townie Roderic Crooks from Gulf Coast4. The Amnesiac in the Maze Michael Czyzniejewski from Ninth Letter 5. The DeepAnthony Doerr from Zoetrope6. Circling in the Air David Driscoll from Mississippi Review7. Down to Bone Roxane Gayfrom Mid-American Review8. Starry Night Lania Knight from Jabberwock Review9. Peter Torrelli Falling Down Rebecca Makkaifrom Tin House10. In Which a Coffin Is a Bed but an Ox Is Not a Coffin Brenda K. Marshall from Michigan Quarterly Review11. Drunk Girl in Stilettos Lee Martinfrom The Georgia Review12. The State Bird of Minnesota Charles McLeodfrom Michigan Quarterly Review13. The Five Points of Performance Christopher Mohar from Southwest Review14. The Baby Glows David James Poissant from The Southern Review15. Splendid, Silent Sun Yelizaveta P. Renfrofrom Glimmer Train16. Miscarriages Shannon Robinsonfrom Nimrod International Journal17. American Bulldog Chad Simpson from Crab Orchard Review18. Twelve + Twelve Christine Sneed from Glimmer Train19. A Dry Season Ian Stanselfrom Ecotone20. Schnecks Mark Wisniewski from Alaska Quarterly ReviewContributors

Jason Lee Brown teaches writing at Eastern Illinois University and is a contributing editor to River Styx. He has received awards from the Illinois Arts Council, Academy of American Poets, and Illinois Press Association. He is editor (with Jay Prefontaine) of the 2011 edition of New Stories from the Midwest.Shanie Latham is Assistant Professor of English at Jefferson College, Missouri. She is Managing Editor at River Styx.

"As this fresh anthology proves, there's a mix of writers and sensibilities that inhabit the literary Midwest as to make the term unpredictable."—Stuart Dybek, MacArthur Fellow and author of The Coast of Chicago

• ContentsAcknowledgments Editors' NoteIntroduction1. Mr. Scary Charles Baxter from Ploughshares2. To Psychic UnderworldDan Chaonfrom Tin House3. Townie Roderic Crooks from Gulf Coast4. The Amnesiac in the Maze Michael Czyzniejewski from Ninth Letter 5. The DeepAnthony Doerr from Zoetrope6. Circling in the Air David Driscoll from Mississippi Review7. Down to Bone Roxane Gayfrom Mid-American Review8. Starry Night Lania Knight from Jabberwock Review9. Peter Torrelli Falling Down Rebecca Makkaifrom Tin House10. In Which a Coffin Is a Bed but an Ox Is Not a Coffin Brenda K. Marshall from Michigan Quarterly Review11. Drunk Girl in Stilettos Lee Martinfrom The Georgia Review12. The State Bird of Minnesota Charles McLeodfrom Michigan Quarterly Review13. The Five Points of Performance Christopher Mohar from Southwest Review14. The Baby Glows David James Poissant from The Southern Review15. Splendid, Silent Sun Yelizaveta P. Renfrofrom Glimmer Train16. Miscarriages Shannon Robinsonfrom Nimrod International Journal17. American Bulldog Chad Simpson from Crab Orchard Review18. Twelve + Twelve Christine Sneed from Glimmer Train19. A Dry Season Ian Stanselfrom Ecotone20. Schnecks Mark Wisniewski from Alaska Quarterly ReviewContributors

Jason Lee Brown teaches writing at Eastern Illinois University and is a contributing editor to River Styx. He has received awards from the Illinois Arts Council, Academy of American Poets, and Illinois Press Association. He is editor (with Jay Prefontaine) of the 2011 edition of New Stories from the Midwest.Shanie Latham is Assistant Professor of English at Jefferson College, Missouri. She is Managing Editor at River Styx.

"As this fresh anthology proves, there's a mix of writers and sensibilities that inhabit the literary Midwest as to make the term unpredictable."—Stuart Dybek, MacArthur Fellow and author of The Coast of Chicago

• ContentsAcknowledgments Editors' NoteIntroduction1. Mr. Scary Charles Baxter from Ploughshares2. To Psychic UnderworldDan Chaonfrom Tin House3. Townie Roderic Crooks from Gulf Coast4. The Amnesiac in the Maze Michael Czyzniejewski from Ninth Letter 5. The DeepAnthony Doerr from Zoetrope6. Circling in the Air David Driscoll from Mississippi Review7. Down to Bone Roxane Gayfrom Mid-American Review8. Starry Night Lania Knight from Jabberwock Review9. Peter Torrelli Falling Down Rebecca Makkaifrom Tin House10. In Which a Coffin Is a Bed but an Ox Is Not a Coffin Brenda K. Marshall from Michigan Quarterly Review11. Drunk Girl in Stilettos Lee Martinfrom The Georgia Review12. The State Bird of Minnesota Charles McLeodfrom Michigan Quarterly Review13. The Five Points of Performance Christopher Mohar from Southwest Review14. The Baby Glows David James Poissant from The Southern Review15. Splendid, Silent Sun Yelizaveta P. Renfrofrom Glimmer Train16. Miscarriages Shannon Robinsonfrom Nimrod International Journal17. American Bulldog Chad Simpson from Crab Orchard Review18. Twelve + Twelve Christine Sneed from Glimmer Train19. A Dry Season Ian Stanselfrom Ecotone20. Schnecks Mark Wisniewski from Alaska Quarterly ReviewContributors