The Echo
Volume 2025
Dear Reader, I am incredibly honored to bring you the 2025 edition of The Echo. Following the tremendous accomplishment of last year’s magazine, we began our submission period during the fall semester in order to prepare for the sheer volume of submissions we anticipated. Our team worked tirelessly to curate each piece, and the edition in your hands showcases a mere fraction of the hundreds of submissions we received. Each page in this book features the exceptional creativity, artistry, and vulnerability of Furman’s student body. This edition would not exist without the talent and passions of the poets, painters, photographers, novelists, embroiderers, and all creatives who submitted to our magazine. I’d like to thank Dr. Laura Morris and Dr. Joni Tevis for their endless support, advice, and trust in me to continue the success of our literary and visual arts magazine; Editorial Board members Pauline Bailey, Mason Blount, Savannah Jones, Clara Long, Caroline Prewitt, and Dimitriana Tsiali for their enthusiasm, wisdom, and deliberate decisiveness; and my Assistant Editor, Alice Tyszka, for her constant encouragement and optimism. From submitting a poem during my first year to serving as the Editor-in-Chief for my last, The Echo has remained a core staple of my Furman experience. Every year, I am struck by the vast range of images, themes, forms, shapes, moods, colors, and subjects to which students are drawn. As you leaf through this issue of hazy experimental nonfiction essays, reflective star-shaped poems, and even painted Ukrainian eggs, I hope you find what resonates with you. Please enjoy the 2025 edition of The Echo. Create fearlessly. Alissa Xiao Class of 2025 Editor-in-Chief of The EchoComplete Volume
Cover
Front Matter
Preface & Table of Contents
Furman University
Poetry
Resentment and Hubris
Kathryn Wilson
Fleeting Memories
Alyson Cramer
What the Sky Gave Us
Nick Lombardo
Riptide Chorus
Stephen McLean
The Christmas Tree Burning
Olivia Bishop
My Shadow Walked Away From Me
Lucy Hammock
Zoo Animal
Kristen Gainey
As Above, So Below
Stephen McLean
backyard wood
Olivia Bishop
Transition One
Tate Denham
Photography
There was once a locket
Ava Shutze
The Cows Coming Home
Anna Timbes
Beach Days
Noel Duclos
American West
Opal Weber
Bee & Nectar
Noel Duclos
In The Rafters
Thomas Demetre
Embroidered Livestock
Noel Duclos
Descend Into Your Own Dream
Ava Shutze
Eye of the Horse
Noel Duclos
Hawk Landing
Noel Duclos
The Vastness of the Canyon
Opal Weber
I Want Pizza
Andrew Chinn
Where Are We Going
William Nix
Seeing South Carolina
Opal Weber
Lion's Den
Melina George
Young Fisherman
Opal Weber
Fall Leaves
Noel Duclos
Biker in Indre By
Anna Timbes
MELINA III
Anna Timbes
Hello California
Andrew Chinn
What bubbles up in yellowstone
Opal Weber
Blue-Footed Boobies
Anna Timbes
Studio Art
The Pigeonhole Ratio
Jacob Robertson
Reminiscence
Natalie Davis
Psyanka Egg: Flora of the Carolinas
Aria Carter
Ivo and His Daughter
Fran Morris
Fingers of a Flautist
Aria Carter
Boa on Jungle Branch
Sophie Crook-Delgado
Kukur Tihar - Golden Love
Sophie Crook-Delgado
I Know What I Must Become
Fran Morris
Echoes of Dissonance
Alexa Anders
Toxic Recipe
Natalie Davis
The Perseverance of Culture
Aidah Wani
Visions of a Bluebird
Jacob Robertson
Lit Candle
Isabelle Seward
Ferry at Dusk
Natalie Davis
World-inspired patterns 2
Hai Tran Nguyen
Prose
Shape of Absence
Gracie Moore
The Legend of the Sea Squids
Stephen Turner
Red Letter London
Ava Shutze
An Eyeful of Stars
Ainsley Buss
Memories of My Father
Sarah Albouchi

Editor-in-Chief
- Alissa Xiao
Assistant Editor
- Alice Tyszka
Editorial Board
- Pauline Bailey
- Mason Blount
- Savannah Jones
- Clara Long
- Caroline Prewitt
- Dimitriana Tsiali