Alter the Process. Break the Rules.

By Carley Fockler I’ve always been the kind of writer who stares at a word document until everything blurs and my mind wanders. There’s something about it that blank space I find intimidating. I adjust the margins, the font size, and the spacing just to give myself the illusion of productivity. It distracts from my …

Everything is Translatable, Especially A Rubik’s Cube

By Tony Pizzo During my first semester retreat to the Atlantic Center for the Arts last January, I attended many eye-opening poetry workshops analyzing the vast selections of form, process, and purpose available to me in this curious expanded field. Among them was a focus on translation, taught by the wonderful John Pluecker. You know …

My Personal Process for the Expanded Field

At the beginning of my journey as a poet, I had an incredibly narrow mind of what poetry was. It had to rhyme. It had to be on paper. It needed to sound classic, like Poe, Whitman, Dickinson, etc. Luckily, since then I have grown my horizons to encapsulate different genres and styles found in …

State of the Obra: Transitions, Traditions, & Connections Between

My blue stockings fit well with the ornate carpet on the second floor of the Marriott. As I sit against the wall waiting for the first panel to open its doors, a rush of thankful emotions drowns out the hum of the crowd. How did I end up at the Association of Writers & Writing …

New Year, New Call for Submissions

We the editors of Obra/Artifact would like to wish everyone a happy and productive 2018 with plenty of comfort and inspiration. As the inaugural year of Obra/Artifact, 2017 was an onslaught of determination, reading and editing, coffeeshop meetings, and new staff members, all resulting in four beautiful issues. Many thanks to our contributors, mentors and …

Toward Generative Translation

By Carol Ann Moon In September 1984, I headed to the Institut für Deutsch als Fremdsprachenphilologie, a.k.a. the Institute for German as a Foreign Language. I was so excited: all of my classes for the first time would be in German! Almost all of my classmates would be non-English speakers! I would be speaking, reading, …

Harnessing the Fandom Phenomenon: A Call to Action for Expanded Fielders, Cross-Genre Writers and Artistic Innovators of All Types

By: Lucianna Chixaro Ramos The history of sci-fi fandom is deep. I am acutely aware of my shallowness when it comes to the genre—my longest forays into the realm of sci-fi involve defying the sophomore year reading list by spending an entire summer reading Dune and avoiding Warhammer conversations as much as is humanly possible. …

Issue Two “Technologic” Release & Call for Submissions

Thanks to a great deal of work from our editors and contributors, the second issue of Obra/Artifact is live! If you haven’t already, give our “Technologic” selections a read, and explore how machines have become entangled in our private/public lives. Buy a PDF of Issue Two After you check out, be sure to click the "return to …

Motherfucker: A Lesson in Ethics

. . . He was the victim of an accidental discharge, uncontrolled carelessness with unconscionable consequences . . .

Fahrenheit 2017

Rebecca Anne Renner   “You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” - Ray Bradbury My students groaned when I passed out the books. “I thought you said we weren’t reading another novel,” said the kid in front. “I was wrong,” I said. “We’re reading this …