A Quarterly of the Desert Southwest

Arid

Letters and art from the basin and range — Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas, eastern California. Dust under the fingernails. Heat in the syntax.

Current Issue

№ 01 · Spring 2026
A Joshua tree in silhouette against a desert dusk.

First Light

On thresholds, dry water, and the slow arithmetic of heat.

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Poetry

Poem
Highway 95, Late
Eli Mahoney
Poem
The Amargosa
Wren Castellano
essay
Notes from the Spring
Marisol Trent

Photography

A pale dry wash cutting across desert ground.
Photograph
Wash Below the Spring
S. Aragón · Amargosa, NV
A single Joshua tree against a layered desert sky.
Photograph
Joshua Tree, Dusk
S. Aragón · Pahrump Valley, NV
A red mesa under a bleached midday sky.
Photograph
Mesa, Noon
J. Begaye · Coconino, AZ