The Spring 2012 issue of Ploughshares, guest-edited by Nick Flynn. Ploughshares, a journal of new writing, is guest-edited serially by prominent writers who explore different personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles.

This issue, guest-edited by poet and memoirist Nick Flynn, contains a diverse collection of poems, essays, and stories, from Eric Fair's essay Consequence, on being an interrogator at Abu Ghraib, to Major Jackson's list poem, "Why I Write Poetry." This stylistically varied issue features emerging poets like Samuel Amadon and Sophie Klahr, as well as established writers such as Steve Almond, Mark Slouka, D. A. Powell, Claudia Rankine, Lauren Groff, and others.