The following letter will be sent to all past Irreantum subscribers. Of course, the incentives described below will apply to anybody who chooses to subscribe. So don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Subscribe!!

Dear Friends of Irreantum,

Irreantum’s Spring/Fall 2009 Anniversary Double Issue will soon be released. As we celebrate Irreantum’s tenth year, we’re offering special incentives for all subscribers—past, present, and future.

The upcoming issue is one of Irreantum’s best yet, including fiction by Orson Scott Card, essays by Terryl Givens and Patrick Madden, poetry by Holly Welker, and photography by Val Brinkerhoff. You won’t want to miss it! (See a complete table of contents at the end of this message.)

This issue celebrates another milestone as well: having caught up with past issues, Irreantum now pledges to deliver Spring and Fall issues in a timely manner. Change, and even tragedy, has challenged Irreantum’s short history—including the death of our editor and dear friend Laraine Wilkins. Delays have resulted. But with this issue we’re officially back on track.

As a thanks to those who’ve stayed with us, the double issue will count as a single issue for current subscribers. If your subscription was due to end with the Fall 2009 issue, you’ll now receive a Spring 2010 issue before your subscription lapses. You’ll also receive another bonus: a complimentary copy The Best of Mormonism, courtesy of Curelom Books, the book publishing arm of Sunstone. This collection, which includes the best writing by, for, or about Mormons from 2007-2008, is packed with award-winning work from several national publications—including fiction, personal essays, book chapters, poetry, and a play. (A table of contents of The Best of Mormonism also can be found at the end of this message.)

A special offer for new subscribers and those whose subscriptions have lapsed: if you purchase a one-year subscription to Irreantum in the month of November 2009, you will receive Irreantum’s Fall 2009 Anniversary Double Issue, The Best of Mormonism, and next year’s Spring 2010 issue, edited by our new co-editor, Jack Harrell.

Irreantum is at a crossroads. Subscription rates have declined. If the numbers don’t improve, the magazine’s viability may be at risk. No matter how dedicated our staff, how excellent our contributors, Irreantum cannot continue without the support of paying subscribers. Please take this opportunity to renew your subscription. Pass this message along to friends and encourage others to subscribe. Or buy Irreantum subscriptions as Christmas gifts. The $25 one-year subscription to Irreantum includes membership in the Association for Mormon Letters, a non-profit organization advancing Mormon literature since 1976. To subscribe, please visit http://irreantum.mormonletters.org/subscribe. Your subscription will help ensure Irreantum’s survival and deliver the best in Mormon literature to your door.

Sincerely,
Angela Hallstrom
Jack Harrell
co-editors, Irreantum

Irreantum Spring/Fall 2009 Double Issue Table of Contents:

Fiction:

Orson Scott Card “The Elephants of Poznan”
Darin Cozzens “The Treading of Lesser Cattle”
Larry Menlove “Path of Antelope, Pelican, and Moon”
Charmayne Gubler Warnock “Nightshade”
Joshua Foster “Cheddar”

Critical Essays:

Terryl Givens “Paradox and Discipleship”
Jack Harrell “Human Conflict and the Mormon Writer”
Eric Samuelsen “The Association for Mormon Letters: Toward a Mission, Minus the Statement”

Poetry:

Doug Talley “Overcoming the World,” “Caelestia,” “Finding Place”
Paul Swenson “Behind the Mask,” “Traces of Laraine”
Holly Welker “Barren,” “Creation”
Michael R. Collings “Contrition,” “Damon Again”

Creative Nonfiction:

Jaren Watson “Of the Drowned”
Ryan McIlvain “Confessions of a Secular Mormon”
Patrick Madden “The Path of Redemption”

Reviews:

Patricia Karamesines, “No Better Off: Amy Irvine’s Trespass: Living at the Edge of the Promised Land”
Phyllis Barber “Big Love Before Big Love: Dorothy Allred Solomon’s In My Father’s House: A Memoir of Polygamy”
Laura Hilton Craner “A Mother Must Leave Behind Her Illusions: Kathryn Lynard Soper’s The Year My Son and I Were Born”
Heidi Hart “Fierce Voices: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History”

Best of Mormonism by Curelom Books Table of Contents:

Neil Aitken. TRAVELING THROUGH THE PRAIRIES, I THINK OF MY FATHER’S VOICE
FROM The Lost Country of Sight

Brittney Carman. BELIEVING OWL, SEEING OWL
FROM Black Warrior Review

Johnna Benson Cornett. GATHER
FROM Segullah

Darin Cozzens. REAP IN MERCY
FROM Irreantum

Lisa Torcasso Downing. CLOTHING ESTHER
FROM Sunstone

Joshua Foster. GOD DAMNED THE LAND BUT LIFTED THE PEOPLE; OR, A REDEMPTION IN THREE LEVITATIONS
FROM South Loop Review

James Goldberg, PRODIGAL SON
FROM New Play Project

Angela Hallstrom. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
FROM Bound on Earth

Lance Larsen. A FEELING IN YOUR HEAD
FROM Iowa Review

Patrick Madden. A SUDDEN PULL BEHIND THE HEART
FROM The Best Creative Nonfiction, vol 2

Scott Russell Morris. NOTHING IN PARTICULAR
FROM Prick of the Spindle

Kathryn Lynard Soper. SOLITAIRE
FROM The Year My Son and I Were Born

Emily Summerhays. HOW THE PRAYERS RAN DRY
FROM Sunstone

Lynda MacKey Wilson. WE WHO OWE EVERYTHING TO A NAME
FROM BYU Studies

Darlene Young. PATRIARCHAL BLESSING
FROM Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought

Dear Irreantum Subscribers (and soon-to-be Irreantum subscribers):

There are some changes taking place at Irreantum that we wanted you to be aware of. But first, the Spring 2009 issue of Irreantum is due to ship soon. If you haven’t yet renewed your subscription (or if you have yet to subscribe) please visit http://irreantum.mormonletters.org/. During difficult economic times, print magazines need all the support they can get, and you don’t want to miss some of the excellent content in our upcoming issue.

Also, don’t forget our upcoming fiction and creative nonfiction contests. The deadline is May 31, 2009. Visit our contest page for more information.

This Spring 2009 issue will represent the last issue edited by Scott Hatch, who’s been heading up the magazine for the past two years. Due to a number of pressing academic and artistic pursuits, Scott has decided to step down from his position as co-editor of Irreantum. Scott’s artistic vision and commitment to Mormon letters has had an invaluable influence on Irreantum as a journal and on Mormon literature in general. We are very grateful for the time and talent he so willingly gave. Scott will be missed.

Our poetry editor, Michael Collings, is also stepping down. Michael is a very talented writer and editor who has done excellent work on Irreantum over the years. We wish him all the best and thank him for his many valuable contributions.

We are pleased to announce that Jack Harrell has agreed to sign on as Irreantum’s new co-editor. Jack will edit the Spring issue of the journal (beginning Spring 2010), and I will edit the Fall issue. Jim Richards has also agreed to join our staff as poetry editor.

Here’s a little more about both Jack and Jim:

Jack Harrell is a native of southeastern Illinois and a convert to the Church. He first heard of AML as an undergraduate, taking English classes from Eugene England in the early 1990’s. He holds an M.A. in English from Illinois State University, and a PhD in Education from the University of Idaho. He has published a novel, Vernal Promises, and short stories and essays in Irreantum, Dialogue, and the journal Popular Music and Society. Jack has been on the faculty of BYU-Idaho (Ricks College) since 1995. He and his wife Cindy have three children, Anjanette, Daniel, and Jessica.

Jim Richards teaches literature and creative writing at BYU-Idaho. He completed a PhD in literature and creative writing at the University of Houston in 2003. He has served as poetry editor of Meridian Magazine (online) and as a staff editor at Gulf Coast. His poems have appeared in The Texas Review, Perspective, Literature and Belief, and BYU Studies. He lives in Rexburg with his wife, Debbie, and their four sons.

I am confident that Jack and Jim will bring loads of talent and energy to Irreantum and I’m looking forward to working with both of them. This change ensures that Irreantum has plenty of fresh energy and new talent to keep us moving in a positive direction. Our Fall issue will be another double issue, and we will then be up-to-date and on track for delivering the best creative and critical work in Mormon letters—consistently, reliably, and on time! Please support us by submitting and subscribing, and telling your friends. You can also join our new Irreantum Facebook page (and tell your friends about that, too) at and receive updates, links, and other Irreantum news.

Your subscriptions and submissions will help ensure that Irreantum survives and thrives. Thank you for your support!

Best,
Angela Hallstrom
co-editor, Irreantum