MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT 

Mentorship Recipient
"Reflections"

Recipient Reflection: 
Charlotte L. Oakeby

On "Reflections" by Charlotte L. Oakeby

by ​​Laura Maylene Walter

When I opened Charlotte Oakeby’s short story in our submission queue, I knew at once I was in the hands of a writer with a flair for crafting a subtle, compelling entry in a fictional world. As I read on, I was mesmerized not only by the descriptions of the doll (her custard-colored hair, her eyelashes like spider legs, her perfect, porcelain lips), but by the story’s reflective voice. That voice transcends the narrator’s youth to show a maturity and a darkness coursing beneath the surface of the story. Clearly, I had stumbled upon a piece of fiction brimming with beauty and promise. Oh, and did I mention that the writer is only seventeen years old?
 
I rarely focus on a writer’s biography when reading submissions, and I frankly don’t care if the author is nine or ninety years old so long as the work grabs me, but I admit I was impressed by all that Charlotte had accomplished in this story at her young age. During our work together for this editorial mentorship, and it was inspiring to see how open she was to revision and experimentation—qualities I believe will take her far.

The original version of Charlotte’s submission included a quote at the end that served to highlight the story’s themes surrounding beauty, vanity, and truth. I felt, however, that the fictional world Charlotte had crafted accomplished that on its own merits, rendering the quote unnecessary. She agreed to remove the quote and let her work stand on its own. From there, I suggested a reimagining and deepening of the final paragraphs. Finding a way to express the story’s expansive, abstract themes without falling back on familiar language or metaphors was a thin line to navigate, but Charlotte was wonderfully responsive and game to trying new things. She worked quickly and with a sharpness I’d come to expect based on her masterful prose.
 
After working with Charlotte and watching her already strong story take shape in revision, I’m confident we’re only seeing the beginning of this young writer’s career. So please, read “Reflections” for its beauty, both surface-level and otherwise, and to celebrate the promise, the talent, and the hard work of this wonderful writer.
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Laura Maylene Walter

Laura Maylene Walter is a writer and editor in Cleveland. Her work has appeared in Poets & Writers, The Sun, Kenyon Review, Ninth Letter, Michigan Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. She was a Yaddo Fellow, a Tin House Writers’ Workshop Scholar, the recipient of the Ohioana Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant, and a past Fiction Editor of Mid-American Review. Her debut story collection, Living Arrangements (BkMk Press), won the G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize, a national gold IPPY, and a Foreword Book of the Year Award. Laura holds an MFA from Bowling Green State University, is a contributing editor Cherry Tree, teaches workshops for Literary Cleveland, blogs for the Kenyon Review, and works for Cleveland Public Library. She is no stranger to rejection.