MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT 

Mentorship Recipient
"On the Corner,
​Tucked Away"

Recipient Reflection: 
Ariél Martinez

On "On the Corner, Tucked Away" by Ariél Martinez

by ​​Laura Maylene Walter

When I opened “On the Corner, Tucked Away” in our submission queue, I found myself reading a smart, heartfelt rumination on relationships, heartbreak, coming of age, and the complex emotional fallout that can accompany the process of packing up and moving. As Ariel and I embarked on the revision process, I asked her to consider carving away a few moments that served (in my opinion) to gently clutter the beauty and power of the prose—and  by doing so, I believed her lovely essay could shine even brighter.
 
For example, the essay originally included details surrounding the first owner of the couches that end up in the possession of the narrator and her girlfriend. These couches apparently lived in a restaurant connected to sex shop and were owned by a man who mysteriously left town with no warning. Would I read a separate essay about this man, his business, why he fled, and what possible connection those couches might have to the sex shop? Absolutely. But in the larger scope of the essay, this man’s life and exit were a touch distracting. By removing some of these details, I believed Ariel’s essay could be winnowed down to its real emotional heart.
 
Similarly, one of the challenges of writing nonfiction is remaining faithful to events as they happened without letting those real-life details slow the pacing or create confusion. To that end, I suggested streamlining some of the information that focused on where the narrator’s parents had lived and moved over the years. These types of changes, along with some additional pruning, represented the bulk of our editorial work. Ariel already had a gorgeous essay on her hands; I merely suggested ways to shape it a bit more.
 
Throughout this process, Ariel was gracious, receptive, and quick to make edits, and her artistry and professionalism were clear from the start. In fact, it’s hard to believe this is Ariel’s first-ever publication—and I’m so grateful we get to share it with our readers right here in Gordon Square Review. 

Laura Maylene Walter

Laura Maylene Walter is a writer and editor in Cleveland. Her debut novel, BODY OF STARS, is forthcoming from Dutton. Her writing 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. Laura holds an MFA from Bowling Green State University, teaches workshops for Literary Cleveland, blogs for the Kenyon Review, and works for Cleveland Public Library. She is no stranger to rejection.