The Spill by Katie Ivey

(2nd place prose winner)

  I’m sitting in Inman Perk skimming the endless pages of a textbook that I have to finish reading for class in less than an hour. Maybe if I had found a decent place to park besides the top level of the parking garage, I could’ve had the time to get more reading done…  No, probably not. My mind is wandering off again when suddenly the serenity of…

Get Better Soon by Laura Burke

When I was a little girl, I remember my mother sitting me down in front of a machine in our living room after we had finished dinner, the family settling down around us, ready to relax for a while before heading to bed.

Now I know that the machine is called a nebulizer. She said I had something called “asthma,” that it was what made me cough all the time, and that…

Locket by Mei Reily

Up, up, up I climb in an endless expanse of staircase after staircase. Each step creaks and groans with every step I take. Who knows how many years it’s been since they’ve had a human walk on them? The voices from downstairs turn to whispers, and are soon indistinguishable from the howling winds outside. A flash of light briefly illuminates the faded yellow wallpaper…

The Snow Queen by Kate Rochford-Price

(staff pick)

  Once after an art show at the Lincoln Center in New York, she’d met a prince. His manservant had persistently raised his forefinger, forcing the bidders—ranging from a frivolous heiress to a French museum curator to a middle-aged businessman showing off to his mistress—to climb to his winning number. He bought her piece—Inverted Self…

Lipstick Kills Innocent Humans

Lipstick Kills Innocent Humans by Ashton Stockdale

when i first wore lipstick it was to impress a boy that i thought was lovely it was my mother’s it was red an old shade the ends were hardened from disuse from misuse i wiped it off before school began he wasn’t going to notice

when i first wore lipstick it was to try to get a priest to see my lips not my heart it was my aunt’s clay brown beautiful

Georgia’s Best Emerging Poets

Congratulations to all Elixir alums who were published in the recent anthology Georgia’s Best Emerging Poets! Inside you can find: “Pregnant Dreams” by Kate Rochford-Price “How Would I Feel” by Melanie Lauren Raper “Island Song” by Tahimi Perez-Borroto “I COULDN’T LIST ALL THE REASONS I HATE YOU IF I TRIED (I’M IN LOVE)” by Rebecca Jarrett “My Night with Walt” by Nina Siso “Girl Versus Jar” by…

2012-13 Editor’s Notes

Dear Readers, I am thrilled to share with you the works of Brenau’s talented writers and artists. This year, our collection draws from a diverse group of students who utilize multiple mediums and genres to explore everything from the impassioned to the mundane. Each woman included in this collection has shared with us a unique rendition of life as a Brenau Woman. It has been my privilege to work…

Tough by Marley Elliott Now she’s single, but she never complains because she knows that sometimes a girl needs to suck it up. On her back is a dragonfly tattoo. Her heart is harder to get to than Fort Knox, they key is buried under miles of concrete. Her heart has been stamped on, tilled battered and barely beating, she thought it was tough love, and would cry herself to sleep every night. Now…

Velcro by Zoe Scheffrin I sit here my gaze fixed on my feet wondering if I’ll be able to reach this time, if the rigid muscles of my back will release far enough. They hold me in place, remind me of the spasms from charlie horses of my youth and the mornings after marathons. I doubt the necessity of shoes anyway because I won’t be doing much today, at most walking to the kitchen just like every…

Watermelon Watermelon by Ashley Lee Alice sat in the car, her tiny frame pinned to the seat by the imposing mesh of the seat belt that was too big and almost sashed over her china-doll neck. Having just graduated from a car-seat, though, she was not about to complain. The weight of the fast-food burger in her lap, with its clammy wax paper encasing the greasy pile, sat untouched. She had not…