The Necklace

Edited Prose & Feedback

Written by Adam Kern. Edited by Nathan Wehr.

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“The Necklace” is a short story Adam Kern submitted to the 2025 edition of First Circle. It stood out in the submissions as prose in the poetry stack and further so as a dramatic fiction rather than fantastical fiction—which I also adore. On these bases alone, “The Necklace” earned a spot in First Circle as something unique.

This piece was the most difficult to edit due to its size and time constraint. I had to trim a little over a page of content so it could fit within the magazine’s page limit—all while ensuring that Adam could convey everything he wanted to convey. It’s my preference to meet with the writer to discuss editorial decisions and changes; however, our schedules never lined up. I left “The Necklace” as intact as possible with a list of notes and invitation to discuss it further with Adam should he ever want to do so.