Category: Thinking West
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Poetry Throw Back: Steve Bellin-Oka
A former guest poet/mentor turned Artist-in-Residence, Steve Bellin-Oka, shared the following piece with El Portal on November 11, 2016. We always knew he was bound for great things and are deeply honored to say, with a full heart, “we knew him when.” Still Life with the Plague of Darkness —…
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This Is West – Wildflower Ranch
Dried rhubarb hangs from a small golden chain over a kitchen sink where his grandmother used to bathe him. “She thinks it keeps spirits away.” He says as he dips his grease-stained mechanic hands into soapy unfiltered water. He’s lived in this brown place all of his life. His grandfather helped lay the brick that…
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This Is West — The Exchange
Ours is a town of little oddities but this is by far the most perplexing event of my entire life. Because there, amidst the dead grass and dust I call my backyard, an unexplained can of meatless, dollar store chili is tumbling from one end of the fence to the next like it thinks it…
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Welcome Back!
School is back in session at Eastern New Mexico University and the Fall 2015 issue is well underway, which means El Portal is now accepting submissions for its Spring 2016 edition. Prose, poetry, flash fiction, photography, and art are welcome internationally! Deadline October 31st. For Terms of Submission: Click Here For Submission Guidelines: Click Here…
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An Interview with El Portal’s Incoming Editor: Kayleen Burdine [by Alexandra Itzi]
A native of Carlsbad, New Mexico, Kayleen Burdine will be assuming editorship of El Portal in August 2015. After graduating with a Bachelors of Arts in English from Eastern New Mexico University this May, she will be entering the Graduate Program in English at ENMU in the fall semester of 2015. Although Burdine will be…
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Last Day for El Portal Submissions!
Today is the last day for submissions to El Portal‘s fall issue. Write West and send it our way! We will accept submissions until 11:59:59 p.m. If you have something you want to submit, send it to the editor at el.portal@enmu.edu. Please visit our official Guidelines and Terms of Submission pages for official rules. Questions…
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El Portal Seeking Submissions for Fall 2015 Issue
El Portal is currently seeking submissions for its Fall 2015 issue. The deadline for Fall 2015 submissions is 31 March 2015. If you have any questions about submitting to El Portal, please feel free to drop us a line at el.portal@enmu.edu. For submission guidelines and official rules, please visit our official Guidelines and Terms of…
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Call for Submissions (El Portal, Fall 2015)
El Portal is currently seeking submissions for its Fall 2015 issue. If you have any questions about submitting to El Portal, please feel free to drop us a line at el.portal@enmu.edu. For submission guidelines and official rules, please visit our official Guidelines and Terms of Submission pages for more information. Also, be sure to check…
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The Well by Jenni Baros (Web Feature)
“Well’s dry again,” Travis says. He kicks the front door shut against the gnawing cold. His arms are full of damp pinon for the fire. The tang of manure and fresh hay follows him in. “It’s winter,” I say. My fingers are numb from chasing dishes around in a sink full of suds. I’ve been…
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Write West. Send it our way.
We want stories and poems about West. West is a bullet-riddled ’85 Grand Marquis, a gleaming spaceship hovering over Roswell, a cowboy paying for latte with his Amex-card, an alien wondering where in the world to get the golden iPhone. West is where it hurts, West is the rattlesnake you didn’t hear, the dust storm…
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Thinking West: Campfire Coffee Recipe
El Portal has decided to publish its own recipe of a western favorite: campfire coffee. Campfire coffee is an art and a science, despite what many city folks might believe. Moreover, coffee is just as important to the cowpokes of the range as it is to the business folks of the city. Unlike those city slickers who visit…
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Thinking West: Robots Taking Selfies
In the West, autonomous robots roam the endless Wasteland. Their purpose for wandering the Wasteland is a mystery to scholars and wastelanders alike. Some scholars theorize they are collecting and cataloging information for a higher, nobler purpose. Others say these robots are out there trying to make contact with the mysterious peoples who inhabit the…
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Thinking West: UFOs
According to a recent tweet posted by the CIA, the UFOs seen in the Southwest, among other places, were piloted by human beings and not extraterrestrials (a.k.a. little green men). What was the CIA up to? Apparently UFO sitings were really sitings of U-2 spy planes. Check out the CIA’s official history on the U-2…
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Cowpokes, aliens, writers, send us your submissions….
We want stories and poems about West. West is a bullet-riddled ’85 Grand Marquis, a gleaming spaceship hovering over Roswell, a cowboy paying for latte with his Amex-card, an alien wondering where in the world to get the golden iPhone. West is where it hurts, West is the rattlesnake you didn’t hear, the dust storm…
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Thinking West: Alexander Bain and the Great (Western) Migration of the 1840s
Alexander Bain, a Scottish inventor and clockmaker, invented the precursor to the modern facsimile (fax) machine. The fax machine, as it is now known, developed from Morse’s telegraph technology and clock machinery available to Bain. Bain’s ingenious machine received a patent in 1843. Today, the fax machine is a symbol of modern business and ultra…
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