by Reid Daugherty Allen
Photography shot and edited by Zlata Kurochka. Interested in Zlata’s work? Email zkurochka@gmail.com.
Introduction: About the Launch
On April 30th, 2025, New Word Order celebrated the launch of its tenth edition at The Hendrick Smithfield Hotel in Dublin, Ireland. The event began at 6:30 PM and ended at 10:30 PM, during which the venue provided guests with seating, food, and drinks at a fair price. During the launch, the team managed to sell over one hundred copies of the newest edition, a massive success, especially given that this collection is only the second time that New Word Order has produced a physical edition of the cultivated pieces.
Over the course of the night, several authors who had contributed their works to the edition were selected to present snippets of their pieces to an audience of their peers. Between each performance, our very own Winnie Kouematchoua Mboumini provided introductions and information about each piece, the author, and the editors who had contributed to the best possible presentation of these works.
Contributor Highlights
“Blood,” by Garvan Ó Deaghaidh, is a second-person perspective narrative where the character attempts to retrace their steps and figure out what happened after a horrible incident the night prior. Read the full story online, or in print on p. 36 of Issue X.
“Bluescreen,” by Nellie Warren, is a short story about a bond between two sisters where one helps the other to overcome increasingly violent dreams in which she is haunted by the bluescreen of death, and grotesque images that remind her of AI-generated pieces, which have been distorted and pixelated like those of early video game graphics. Read the full story online, or in print on p. 118 of Issue X.
“Drainage,” by Shawn Galligan, is a poem about the romantic feelings a man has for another that are left unrequited. The speaker’s emotional turmoil is represented through a scab that he can’t bring himself to stop picking at. No matter how much he wants to move on, he can’t help but imagine what could’ve been, much like the urge to scratch and pick at an itchy scab til it bleeds. Read the full poem online, or in print on p. 32 of Issue X.
“How to Meet My Mother,” by Runo Mäkeläinen, is a poem in which the narrator prepares their partner to meet her mother by discussing her past, what annoys her, and her peculiar habits. The poem employs rhyme scheme and repetition to craft a relatable piece that reveals a great deal about the mother and the character’s relationships. Read the full poem online, or in print on p. 59 of Issue X.
Final Thoughts and Credits
Along with the presentations, a professional photographer, Zlata Kurochka provided her talents to capture the night’s events in stunning detail. Furthermore, most of the team had dedicated themselves throughout the event to ensure everything went smoothly. Some would check the tickets of guests to ensure only those invited could enter, while others were in charge of selling and distributing copies of the journal, and others were on standby to deal with any potential conflicts.
In conclusion, the event’s success was not only tied directly to the team’s coordination with guests and staff at The Hendrick Smithfield, but also their ability to cultivate a collection of pieces into a proper edition for New Word Order within the allocated time provided to them in the spring semester of 2025. Thank you to everyone who made this night possible!
