At The Missouri Review, we published Daniel Woodrell’s story “Woe to Live On” in 1983, before it was expanded into a novel and then turned into the movie Ride with the Devil by Ang Lee.  Daniel has been to visit and read for us, as well.

The movie is being hailed as the best of the year by many critics and is fascinating both in how melodramatic and sentimental it is.  Protect the Children in a Heartless World!  Fight Against All-Encroaching Evil!  Daddy’s Dead, What Will We Do?!  It’s a flick that could almost have been made in 1916 on a rooftop in New York.

That’s not to put it down.  On the contrary, Winter’s Bone is evidence of how primitive and get-back a good movie can be.  How with good detail and actors, with thoughtful choice and handling of a heroine (the movie makes her slightly purer than the book) and scenic veracity, one can tell a wonderfully compelling story.
Thematically, both the book and the movie rise above simple melodrama with one particularly interesting idea: the self-ordering of social groups—even a group of outsiders.  The druggies in Winter’s Bone finally resolve their own conflict because they really are the only ones for which it makes any difference.

It’s a dark story but oddly uplifting.  I recommend it.

Speer Morgan is the editor of The Missouri Review. His most recent novel, The Freshour Cylinders (1998), was awarded an American Book Award.

Learning such communication skills is an important part of The Missouri Review internship program. Not only are our interns immersed in reading and discussing manuscripts, but they also learn about the larger business of running a magazine. Last semester, that included teams of interns producing video podcasts. These students experienced all aspects of production, including storyboarding, the capturing of video, and editing audio and video tracks. Video subjects included author and staff interviews, an interview with our poetry editor, and a short on the “The Life of a Manuscript.” For a brief insight in what happens to a submitted manuscript, click here. And thanks for the creativity and diligent work by this team of interns (which, by the way, does include more than English majors): Scott Scheese, Kate McIntrye, Lindsay Sihilling, Cody Horton, and Emily Wunderlich. Original music by Kyle Stokes. We’ll post more video podcasts in the coming months.

Richard Sowienski

Take a look behind the scenes of a literary journal as The Missouri Review reveals what happens to a manuscript once it arrives at our offices. Thanks for the creativity and diligent work by our team of video production interns: Scott Scheese, Kate McIntrye, Lindsay Sihilling, Cody Horton, and Emily Wunderlich. Original music by Kyle Stokes.

Narrative Essay
First place, $1,000: “Dayenu,” by Judith Sloan
First runner-up: “What’s Your Status,” Judith Sloan
Second runner-up: “‘Reverie’” Reclaimed, Nancy M. Williams
No student entries/winners

Documentary
First place, $1,000: “Love Triangle,” Lauren Kirby
First runner-up and best student: “Dad’s Naughty Pictures,” Ken Cormier
Second runner-up: “Love, War, & PTSD: Peter and Anna Mohan”

Voice Only

Fiction
First place, $500: “Annunciation of the Baby Jesus One Block North of Riverfront Dr.,” Ann Rosenquist
First runner-up and best student entry: “Glorie in a Small Town,” Kristin S. vanNamen

Creative nonfiction
First place, $500: “Smoke Rings,” Rachael Hanel
First runner-up: “Mary Lee,” Robert V. Wolf
Second runner-up: “Foreign Land,” Sue Mell
Best student entry: “Personal Assistant Needed,” Kristin S. vanNamen

Poetry
First place, $500: “Living the Life of the Great Buster Keaton,” Douglas Collura
First runner-up: “Fear of Moving Water,” Alex Grant
Second runner-up: “There’s a Guy in L.A. Who Charges a Premium Teaching Men How To Get Women,” Todd Boss
Best student entry: “The Life Expectancy of a Fruit Fly,” “Some Revisions,” Marcus Wicker

Video

Creative Short
First place, $500: “Separate Vacations,” Anne Lewis
First runner-up: “A Length of Time Is Measured By the Space Between 2 Hands,” Ryan Scammell
Second runner-up: “The Clam Diggers,” Tim Wilson

Documentary
First place: $500: “The Unhappy Traveler: A New Yorker in India,” Basia Winograd
First runner-up: Inventing the G-Suit: the Life Story of Dr. Earl Wood,” Bill Bonde
Second runner-up: “Coming Home,” Dmae Roberts
Best student entries: “Nokota,” Lucie Schwartz; and “The Palmyra Massacre,” Brian White

Part I:

Part 2: