“Our present-tense human experience is like a living tree growing by a river. The current in the river is the passing of time. Our individual pasts are like the same tree fallen in the river, drowned now, and disintegrating with surprising speed. We resist time’s flow with our memories and language, with our stories ”
~ David James Duncan
Issue 26.1
Featuring the writing of Richard Bausch, David Fowler, George Estreich, Stephen Haines, Heather Lanier, Will McMillan, Lindsey Pharr, Suzanne Roberts, Jennifer Taylor-Skinner, William Torrey, and Nicole Walker.
River Teeth is a biannual journal combining the best of creative nonfiction, including narrative reportage, essays, and memoir, with critical essays that explore the impact of nonfiction narrative on the lives of its writers, subjects, and readers.
I Remember the Lack, But Also Abundance
By Bethany Jarmul
Our bare feet cool on the cement porch as the rain pings and hammers against the tinny awning, the Appalachians surrounding us, half-hidden by carbon-colored clouds...
Laughter Dies Last
By Rebecca Dimyan
My mother-in-law looks at me with a smile that knows nothing of shame. She mumbles something about being late to the dance, and I tell her not to worry, she’ll be right on time...
Latest News …
River Teeth Goes to L.A. for AWP 2025
We our packing our bags and our boxes of goodies as we prepare to make our way to AWP in Los Angeles this March 26-29 in Los Angeles.
Brooke Champagne Joins the River Teeth Team
Hello from the confluence of River Teeth here at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, on the kind of gorgeous fall day that makes a person want to leash up the dog and head out into the fields and woods–but not so fast because submissions opened on September 1st and we’ve got a lot of reading to do. Happily, we love to read.
Beth Nguyen Announced As River Teeth’s 2024 Literary Nonfiction Book Prize Judge
by Ethan Rice
"We are thrilled to announce the final judge for the 2024 River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Prize. Beth Nguyen is an author and professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing..."