The Spring 1974 issue of Ploughshares, guest-edited by Fanny Howe. Ploughshares, a journal of new writing, is guest-edited serially by prominent writers who explore different personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles.

This issue is headlined by fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from future Ploughshares guest editors Madeline DeFrees (Blue Dusk), Paul Hannigan (The Carnation), Maxine Kumin (Where I Live), David Gullette (Dreaming in Nicaragua), and Russell Banks (The Darling), along with works from Richard Cecil, Bobbie Louise Hawkins, Arthur Vogelsang, and other prolific contributors. Placing artwork of musicians at the forefront of the issue, Howe evidently looks for the musical and lyrical in her selections, and finds it in places one would not expect.