“Blossoming Through the Fence,” the 2024 IAIA Student Anthology, is now published and available to view. The anthology is produced by student editors, with assistance from Anthology Advisor and Creative Writing Chair Kim Parko at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Creative Writing Undergraduate Department.

For comments or questions, please contact Kim Parko at kparko@iaia.edu.

Editors’ Statement

In creating the 2024 IAIA Student Anthology, “Blossoming Through the Fence,” the editors could not ignore what is happening to Indigenous peoples around the world. As a student collective, we have been grieving, hurting, and feeling powerless. The state of destruction happening in Palestine, Sudan, Congo, and in all colonized lands across the globe has been difficult to navigate as we are forced to live our everyday lives, and even harder as we deal with our own issues on campus. 2024 is also an election year. We cannot help but feel scared for what the future brings and the power our elected officials hold. We’ve been walking blindly through a tunnel, hoping the voices of our elders would be correct when they predicted light on the other side. In times like these, the editors believe it is vital to ground ourselves in hope, to bloom past our fences and blossom on the other side. With “Blossoming Through the Fence,” we aim to bring that hope to the forefront.

We, the editors, ask: what does it mean to blossom beyond our boundaries? What constraints are you trying to break free of? What inspires you to grow? How do you embrace the feminine when so many voices tell you to reject it? What words of solidarity do you have to share? What does it mean to turn from destruction and instead sow seeds of embrace? We believe optimism is rebellion, that it is revolutionary to dream despite our current reality. When everything is burning down, we create. We want this year’s anthology to be a place where you can share what brings you hope, what conjures radical joy, what fosters community and understanding. In years to come, we hope we can look back and remember the empowerment and light we held in times of darkness.

“Blossoming Through the Fence” student editors are Minja Utahna Gaines (Acoma Pueblo), Emerald “noquisi” GoingSnake (Giduwa [Cherokee] and Mvskoke [Creek]), Tiana Martinez (Ihanktonwan Dakota, Ponca, and Turtle Mountain Ojibwe), and Shelby Morrison (Mvskoke).