Copper Nickel is a meeting place for multiple aesthetics, bringing work that engages with our social and historical context to the world with original pieces and dynamic translations. This 21st issue of Copper Nickel features poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, including work by National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist James Richardson; Anisfield-Wolf Award recipient Martha Collins; Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award winner Jehanne Dubrow; Guggenheim Fellow Mark Halliday; NEA Fellows David Hernandez, Henry Israeli, and Kevin Prufer; PEN/O. Henry Prize recipient Polly Rosenwaike; James Laughlin Award winner Tony Hoagland; James Merrill Fellow Anna B. Sutton; Lambda Literary Award winner Julie Marie Wade; Lannan Foundation Fellow Ed Skoog; as well as a number of writers at earlier stages in their careers. The issue also includes three "Translation Folios" introducing and contextualizing for an American audience the Chinese poet Yi Lu, the Danish fiction writer Christina Hesselholdt, and three Uruguayan poets: Laura Cesarco Eglin, Circe Maia, and Karen Wild.

The cover of Issue 21 features new work by renowned artist, musician, and composer Mark Mothersbaugh.