Megan Savage

When I applied I intended to complete/revise my collection-in-progress, OLD GROWTH DAUGHTERS. Here's a brief description of that manuscript: In the oldest tales, wishes are a magic powerful enough to birth unsettling realities. The narrators of OLD GROWTH DAUGHTERS whisper such wishes in your ear, vulnerable and unflinching. A wife ascends a giant fir to escape her spouse’s suicidal urges – but is the climb cathartic or deadly? Queer best friends, one dying, undertake a strip club pilgrimage; erotic and religious ecstasy mingle as the grieving friend opens a portal to the healing waters of Lourdes. At an apple festival, a childless woman incarnates the daughter she used the morning-after pill to prevent – but is this weird spirit a child or a monster? Spanning forests and thresholds of the Pacific Northwest and New England, pulsing with timeless loss and muscular beauty, the magic of OLD GROWTH DAUGHTERS shreds the veil between horror and hope. However, I was able to complete that manuscript before arriving. Though I did do some revision work on one story in the collection, the most exciting thing to happen at the Sou'Wester related to that collection was my signing a contract for the publication of one of the stories. The story was picked up by a dream venue, https://www.switchyardmag.com/ -- while I was at the Sou'Wester I was able to view the layed-out proof of the piece along with illustrations. It's one of the most remarkable writing moments I've had, and I'll always associated it with the Sou'Wester. I'd be happy to share the story once it's up on the magazine's website. Instead, I spent the majority of my time creating generative writing and planning for a new novel, The Grief Book/Not My Grave. Here's a little one-paragraph description of that novel, written at the Sou'Wester: What does a funeral reveal about what we value in life? For Mara, the question is not an abstract one. Mara was born into a family who makes their money by creating “event funerals” for the wealthy; now her grandmother is the one dying, and Mara and her far-flung cousins must gather to create a good death and a good death ritual, even though no one can agree what that is. Mara’s cousin Bianca wants to commune with the dead. Mara’s uncle Jack wants to create a branded experience that takes their business to the next level. And Jennifer, Mara’s best-friend cousin, has uncovered a family secret that she refuses to share with Mara. Mara’s not even sure she wants to be a part of this family. In fact, she spends most of her time chatting with the imaginary friend whose grave lives in the basement of her apartment building; she tends it by arrangement with her apartment buildings’ property management company. The funeral is as bonkers as you would think – it’s a stage for everyone’s vision and they are all at odds. But Mara’s grandmother has the last word – she’s paid a funeral confessor to reveal the family secret. Will the secret be the nail in the family's proverbial coffin, or can it offer them and their business a rebirth? Token: I left work not of my own exactly -- I brought a copy of ALCHEMY LITERARY MAGAZINE, ISSUE #51, created by the students in my Editing & Publishing class at Portland Community College, Winter & Spring 2025; they worked hard on this issue in a challenging time, and I felt it was stellar in content and design. Also, I spent so much of this year to date thinking about the work of creating that issue with my little cohort of student editors; I loved bringing it to you to have a home at the Sou'Wester.