Publications

"Constellation of Grace"

Published by Fourth Genre

Issue 21.2, August 2019

K. Mikey Borgard's nonfiction essay, "Constellation of Grace," traces the reverberations of childhood bullying into the present-action frame of the trial and sentencing of Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, the surviving perpetrator of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. In his essay, Mikey explores the concept of forgiveness, navigates the discrepancies between "victim" and "survivor," and sheds light on the hierarchal categorizations imposed upon the affectees of mass-casualty incidents. Part testimony to the power of love, part criticism of the human instinct to "other," "Constellation of Grace" is a glimpse into the aching aftermath of public trauma and the pain that lingers long after the media spotlights dim. 

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"Constellation of Grace" was shortlisted for the Steinberg Essay Prize and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.