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GSW's Blue Fire, 800 Georgia Southwestern State University Dr, Americus, GA (2026)

09/01/2026

Read about Makayla’s favorite prose piece in Blue Fire!
My favorite prose piece was definitely Devils of Temptation by Tyeshia Walker. I am a big horror fan, and I was hoping that we would get a submission in the genre. I found the imagery in this piece to be very effective. It is both able to capture the beauty of the bayou and the terror of Fanelia’s experience. For example, “The river watched as Fanelia’s face began to ooze...” The dialogue between Fanelia and the man in the swamp calls to mind Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog, which was one of my favorite movies growing up. Fanelia is relatable to me, I know what it’s like to wish you looked different, so I found the ending to be especially gut wrenching. This story is an excellent blend of the supernatural and psychological, te as the man in the swamp seems to be something unhuman, and Fanelia is too far gone to realize that she is hurting her mother rather than helping her.

08/25/2026

One of my favorite pieces actually comes from the creative nonfiction section of this year's
publication. The piece I am mentioning is Atelier by Anika (Nikki) Remollino. When first
reading this, I found myself relating to the author greatly—as I also love to draw and paint
whenever I’m not reading or writing. Her work is about trying to find the perfect medium for
artistic expression, which I understand. It’s a very grueling process that might leave you
wondering if you were fit for it at all. Ultimately, I think her conclusion of being able to find a
medium that works for her leaves me feeling peaceful on her behalf. It brought me down memory lane myself, and I had the honor of speaking to the writer in-person at our release party for the magazine. Hearing her experiences on a more personal level was enlightening, and allowed me a better perspective when reading it. Overall, it covers the struggles of growing up and into your craft, which is a very beautiful, beautiful thing.
Favorite Lines: “Life gave us lemons and they came out half-baked.” “My hand is still gray, and
I don’t look down, only dream of a time when I, too, can love what I create.”

08/18/2026

Read about Aden Bruce’s favorite visual art piece in Blue Fire!

My personal favorite of the visual art pieces we received was Boston Public Library by Brandon Mann. I was just absolutely blown away by the sheer detail that he managed to fit into it. Infrastructure is ridiculously challenging to draw, and the steadiness of his lines completely blows me away. As an artist myself I cannot even fathom the amount of time and effort he put into this. (He said it was roughly forty hours when I talked to him.) I am just ecstatic that we were able to include it in the volume, because I think it is truly a wonderful art piece. The fact it is in pen is also very impressive to me, because I truly despise drawing with pens so very much. Plus, what is more fitting for a literary magazine than a drawing of a library? It was also one of the pieces that fit the InDesign page more easily so that helped me like it too.

08/11/2026

Read about Adalyn Rooks’ favorite visual art piece in Blue Fire.
My favorite piece of visual art this year was “Boston Public Library” by Brandon Mann. Firstly, its done with just a pen which is baffling because the pen is just so permanent and once you mark something on the page, you cannot go back. The pen represents being confident in art and the fact that there are just so many little details that were able to be added is so kerfuffling to me! And even that—the details! It captures the space perfectly and really makes you feel the sense of being there and trying to sketch it all. It's such a beautiful piece and I cannot say enough good things about it. All the visual art pieces are incredible, and I love each and every one of them, but this one with it’s simple medium and the monochromatic of it makes me feel better after all the chaoticness of color that was going on in previous pages.

08/06/2026

Read about Makenzi’s favorite visual art piece in Blue Fire.
My favorite visual art was the Blue Monochrome Snowdrops. Looking at this piece made me feel so calm. It is like all the background noise suddenly disappears and all you can notice are the flowers drooping on the paper. It is a simple piece of art but also so loud at the same time. It is in my face, not in a bad way, but as if everything is starting over and is quiet. It is new beginnings and fresh starts. It is sad but growing and becoming something new. I feel like it is something we can all relate to in life, growing and starting a new chapter. It makes me feel like it is something we should cherish and never take for granted.

07/28/2026

Read about Makayla’s favorite prose piece in Blue Fire!

My favorite prose piece was definitely Devils of Temptation by Tyeshia Walker. I am a big horror fan, and I was hoping that we would get a submission in the genre. I found the imagery in this piece to be very effective. It is both able to capture the beauty of the bayou and the terror of Fanelia’s experience. For example, “The river watched as Fanelia’s face began to ooze...” The dialogue between Fanelia and the man in the swamp calls to mind Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog, which was one of my favorite movies growing up. Fanelia is relatable to me, I know what it’s like to wish you looked different, so I found the ending to be especially gut wrenching. This story is an excellent blend of the supernatural and psychological, as the man in the swamp seems to be something unhuman, and Fanelia is too far gone to realize that she is hurting her mother rather than helping her.

07/21/2026

Read about Maven Coston’s favorite visual art piece in Blue Fire!

When looking over the visual arts section in this year’s edition, I found myself heavily drifted to
a piece called Rag Doll by Jordyn Walker. As one of our first submitted pieces, it was impactful
by nature. Analyzing the piece in depth, it covers a very challenging health condition that seems
to impact mobility and lack of stable structure. The image is lightly filtered with a glitch-like
overlay that is mesmerizing to the eye. What I most enjoyed as well was the figure being
pictured, greyed out and seemingly lacking in life. The stance taken is also something I believed as a vulnerable pose, possibly representing the state of being a Rag Doll. Lastly, I noticed the article pieces on the artwork, which really does get the point across and invoke feelings of helplessness, confusion and dread. This piece even led me to try and find the article used, and it made me learn more about the condition as a result. As much as this is art, it is also a strong call to action—which I must admit favored my heart quite significantly.

07/14/2026

Read about Aden Bruce’s favorite literary piece!

My favorite literary piece was the poem The Rocking Chair by John Grey. The way that it talks about grief hit me pretty personally. I have felt and seen that hole that people leave in the world and your heart so many times, but I haven’t really been able to put those feelings into words. I have a lot of little knick-knacks (i.e. stuffed animals, statues, and the such) from loved ones who have passed away just to help me remember to keep some small part of them alive in the only way I can. This piece concentrated all of that grief and pain into a single page. It made me feel seen. If I remember correctly, I read it for the first time right after I got home from my grandfather’s funeral, so it was kind of the perfect timing, I guess. It helped me a lot at the time.
Favorite quote-
For more than the photographs, �more than the trinkets, the souvenirs, �and certainly so much more �than her gravestone at St. Mary’s, �this is the real woman.

07/07/2026

I was a Blue Fire Editor for this issue of Blue Fire and I learned a lot from the experience. For
some reason, going into this class, I didn’t know that there would be several things that all of us
would be doing together. Perhaps I thought there would be a much larger team, but I thought I
would just be adding some commas and correct punctuation here and there (not saying that
didn’t happen, but...you know.) I didn’t realize that I wasn’t just going to sit in a corner and do
whatever I was told to do, and I would actually have an opinion on certain things. I was a copyeditor for the Fictional pieces, and I was surprised at what I had to do for it (again, I thought I was adding commas and periods.) One thing that supprised me in a nice way was how much the original contributors were involved in the editing stage of their work. As an editor, I had to make sure not to change too much, even if it was my own personal preference, and make sure that the author approved of the changes I did make. Overall, it was work, but I really can’t complain. I loved being an editor this year!

Thank you for reading about our editors, and what they learned from working on the magazine! More to come!

06/30/2026

Hear from another one of our editors and their experience!
My experience as an editor was fun and educational. I got to work with some very bright people that made me want to work harder each time we were given a task. I feel like this experience could also help me along my journey to become a teacher. I could maybe share my experience with future students if it is something they would find interesting. I think one thing I realized while going through with Blue Fire is that literature is a lot more impactful than we realize. I have always enjoyed writing a little here and there, and of course reading a lot. But seeing the impact that it has on these writers to feel so inclined to submit their work, it was crazy. The pieces they submitted, you can tell it really came from their heart with what the topics were and the courage they had to submit it. I don’t think I could have that type of courage to submit my own work.

GSW's Blue Fire

09/01/2026

08/25/2026

08/18/2026

08/11/2026

08/06/2026

07/28/2026

07/21/2026

07/14/2026

07/07/2026

06/30/2026

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