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THE stateMent
Deputy Editor: Kaitlin Williams
Magazine Editors: Dylan Cinti, Jennifer Xu
Editor in Chief: Joseph Lichterman
Managing Editor: Josh Heely
Design Editor: Nolan Loh
Photo Editor: Terra Molengraff
Copy Editor: Beth Coplowitz
DO YOU KNOW ANYBODY
EXCEPTIONAL?
The Statement is calling for
nominations for its annual Students
of the Year issue.
Please send a brief paragraph stating
why a student deserves to be chosen
to thestatement@umich.edu.
Students must be currently enrolled
at the University of Michigan.
Multiple nominations are permitted.

Letter from the editor
by Kaitlin Williams
Iwould like to thank Magazine Editors Jennifer Xu and Dylan Cinti for giving me the
reigns to select the student work featured in this year's Literary Issue. After advertis-
ing for submissions in The Michigan Daily, posting fliers and spamming e-mail lists, I
received dozens of submissions from talented University students showcasing their works.
I took the names off each submission before printing it out because several submissions
were from past and present classmates and I wanted to ensure impartiality during the
judging process. I'm proud of my peers when I say that deciding on the work displayed in
the following pages wasn't easy.
As a writer, I know what it's like to tap your soul into a keyboard. As a human being, I
know what it's like to be rejected. Several times during this process I've thought to myself,
"What gives me the right to put these poems and short stories into yes, no and maybe piles?"
The truth is what has made being involved with The Statement such an enriching experience
for me. This is a student-run publication. I'm a student and a writer. I haven't been published.
I received a brief moment of vindication when I won a Hopwood Award from the University
for a short story I wrote last year. I'm not a member of the Hopwood selection committee, a
professor or an admissions officer. I chose the following poems and short stories with care,
knowing this could be the only time I will be on this end of the selection process. My sub-
missions were rejected for the Literary Issue published last year. I'll be rejected from many
publications over my lifetime. I want to shine a spotlight
on the work here as a small triumph for its authors and
for myself. This may only be a small sampling of the
talent the University has to offer, but I think all of the
work here displays something every person can relate to.
Whether you write for a living, for fun, for.catharsis or
for your sanity, I hope you read yourself into the stories
and poems here.