Opening Letters > From The Editors

July is monsoon season in Luna County, New Mexico—Sky Island Journal ‘s birthplace and spiritual home. This time of year, the mountains and deserts thirst for rain. Their inhabitants grow lean in the sweltering heat of the day and drink the cool night air with relish. Soon, lightning will crack the sky like an eggshell. Succulents will gorge and swell. Alluvial fans will flutter alight. Arroyos and draws will become rivers—veins of water, pulsing at treacherous speeds. There will be creation, destruction, and renewal: pure transformation. Surviving the turbulence of New Mexico’s summer landscape gives us the inspiration we need to continue carving our own path, and it provides us with the courage we need to love, even (and especially) when we are afraid. So, it is fitting—auspicious, really—that Issue 17 opens with the fearlessly transformative work of Adeline J. Wells, a fellow world traveler who, like us, found a home for her heart in the high desert.

As an independent international literary journal, our positive energy, our rugged independence, and our relentless tenacity kept us strong and publishing throughout the pandemic. Now, that strength helps ensure every step we take is made with kindness and humility as we continue to grow. Reading and responding to every submission—then being able to share the work of writers from around the world, with readers from around the world—are privileges beyond the telling. We could not be more grateful for our family of contributors and our constellation of loyal readers.

We have elected to leave the "scroll-through experience" and pop-up ads to other literary platforms. By design, each published piece of writing in Sky Island Journal opens as a protected Word document for an authentic, focused, and immersive experience that encourages a close, intimate, distraction-free reading of the work. Readers, we want your experience with the work of our contributors to be singular: just as it would be on the printed page, with crisp white paper between your collective fingertips. With no advertising on our website, you can fully engage with the worlds of words our contributors have so carefully crafted for you. With no subscription fees, you are welcome to read and enjoy whenever you like, regardless of your means. We believe in removing barriers between readers and access to high quality literature, especially in regions of the world that have traditionally been underserved by English language journals or completely ignored by the literary establishment.

We understand that all this is a radical departure from how many literary journals present writing to their readers online, but we think it is a refreshing change for the better. We are where the desert meets the mountains, where the indigenous meets the exotic, and where the old ways meet the digital frontier. It is okay to slow down here. It is okay to take your time. It is okay to simply be present—to savor, to reflect, and to gather strength for the next monsoon.

Of the 1,505 individual pieces that we received from around the world for Issue 17, we found these 29 to be the finest. Enjoy!

Welcome to Sky Island. Welcome home.

Respectfully,

Jason Splichal, Co-Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief

A few weeks ago, I found myself at the dining room table writing postcards to our phenomenal contributors for this issue. My wife walked by and glanced over my shoulder, stopped, and stated, "Wait—you're publishing Issue 17? I remember when you were writing notes for Issue 4!"

Reflecting on that moment, it is hard to believe that we recently celebrated our fourth full year in existence and operation at Sky Island Journal. Over the past four years we have published seventeen issues, each one with its own unique flavor and personality, thanks to the contributions of our diverse and talented writers. From the start we were purposeful in our approach and are driven by the pursuit of publishing established and emerging writers side-by-side, creating the vibrancy reflected in each issue. Unfalteringly, we return to our muse—the Florida Mountains near Deming, New Mexico—at least once a year. We rediscover the inspiration necessary to continually learn: forging a path that feels familiar at times, yet often surprises us with new challenges to embrace and beauties to savor.

Throughout these seventeen issues we have welcomed over 90,000 readers to experience the 651 pieces (poems, flash fiction and creative nonfiction pieces) we’ve had the honor of publishing. We have received submissions from all 50 states in the US, and 47 of those states are currently represented in the journal. On an international scale, we have published writers and poets from 36 different countries, and we are thrilled that 20% of our pieces offer perspectives from outside of our own native country. As humans, we have the opportunity to learn from each other, and it is humbling to serve as a conduit, connecting people across the globe with literature that wields the power to move us intellectually and emotionally.

What I cannot quantify is the feeling of gratitude that permeates our experience here at Sky Island Journal. Whether you are a contributor, reader, or both, I have two simple words to offer that I hope can carry the weight of our appreciation for your engagement and support—thank you.

Respectfully,

Jeff Sommerfeld, Co-Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief

Adeline J. Wells > Creative Nonfiction > California, USA

Adeline J. Wells is a freelance writer and content creator currently based in Joshua Tree, California.  A former serial barista, she has dabbled in a variety of trades including working for a family law firm, an anti-torture advocacy nonprofit, as a custodian, and for a State Assemblywoman.  Originally from Wisconsin, she now finds peace under the Mojave Desert’s slow, cotton candy sunsets, and a home within the community of wildly genuine beings who live there. Sky Island Journal is her first literary publication.

Ben Kassoy > Poetry > California, USA

Ben Kassoy (he/him) is the Editor-in-Chief of DoSomething.org. His poetry has recently appeared in 805 Lit + Art and Human Parts, and he has also written for the websites of Elle, Teen Vogue, GQ, Details, Glamour, Elite Daily, Bustle, Well+Good, and others.

Bryn Dodson > Flash Fiction > New York, USA

Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, Bryn Dodson is a graduate of New York University’s creative writing program, where he was a finalist for the Axinn Foundation/E.L. Doctorow fellowship. His fiction has appeared in [PANK] and Westerly. He works at a digital agency, co-organizes New York City’s Lunar Walk poetry reading series, and lives in Brooklyn, New York. 

Chad V. Broughman > Flash Fiction > Michigan, USA

Chad V. Broughman was the recipient of the Rusty Scythe Prize Book award in 2016 and in 2017 was awarded the Adobe Cottage Writers Retreat honor in New Mexico. As well, Chad was awarded a chapbook contract for his collection of short stories “the forsaken” which was published by Etchings Press. His fiction can be found in journals nationwide––such as Carrier Pigeon, East Coast Literary Review, River Poets Journal, Burningword, Pulp Fiction, From Whispers to Roars, and Sky Island Journal––and he is anthologized in the Write Michigan Short Story Anthology, On Loss, and most recently, with an award-winning piece, Scribes Valley Anthology. He is a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee, holds an MFA from Spalding University, and served as Co-Editor for the poetry/fiction blog Café Aphra, based out of the United Kingdom. Chad teaches English and Creative Writing at the secondary and post-secondary levels but is most proud of his role as husband and father to his feisty young sons. 

Clementina Ojie > Creative Nonfiction > Maryland, USA

Clementina Ojie is a writer and filmmaker based out of New York City. She was born in Nigeria and moved with her family to the United States when she was 10 years old. She has essays forthcoming in the Blue Mountain Review and Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose.

Eric Fisher Stone > Poetry > Texas, USA

Eric Fisher Stone is a poet and writing tutor from Fort Worth, Texas. He received his MFA in creative writing and the environment from Iowa State University. His first full length poetry collection, The Providence of Grass, was published by Chatter House Press in 2018. His second collection, Animal Joy, should be forthcoming from WordTech Editions in 2021. He often writes about his favorite animal, the collared peccary, mostly known as the javelina.

Gary Lark > Poetry > Oregon, USA

Gary Lark’s most recent collection is Daybreak on the Water, (Flowstone Press, 2020). Other work includes, Ordinary Gravity, (Airlie Press, 2019) River of Solace, (Flowstone Press, 2016); In the House of Memory, (BatCat Press, 2016); Without a Map, (Wellstone Press, 2013), and Getting By, (Logan House Press, 2009). Easter Creek is forthcoming from Main Street Rag. His poetry has appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, Catamaran, Hubbub, Poet Lore, ZYZZYVA, and Sky Island Journal.

Gaven Wallace > Poetry > Mississippi, USA

Gaven Wallace is a graduate from the University of Southern Mississippi with his B.A. in English, with an emphasis in creative writing. He is the recipient of the O’Hara-Mackaman endowment for creative writing and is currently being published in West Trade Review. He lives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi where, in his free time, he listens to punk music and reads Kurt Vonnegut. Usually not simultaneously.

Hannah Butcher + Kendall Clarke + Matt Forsythe > Collaborative Flash Fiction > Florida, USA

Hannah Butcher is an English major with Creative Writing and Jewish Studies minors at Rollins College. Her poetry has appeared in Sequestrum, and she currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Sandspur, the campus newspaper. Kendall Clarke is a recent graduate of Rollins College, where she majored in English and minored in Creative Writing. Her work has appeared in Brushing, the college’s literary and art journal. Matt Forsythe teaches in the English Department at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. His writing has appeared in Mid-American Review, Fiction Southeast, and The Yalobusha Review.

This project was undertaken as part of the Rollins College Student-Faculty Collaborative Scholarship program. 

Julie Weiss > Poetry > Spain

Julie Weiss is the author of The Places We Empty, her debut chapbook forthcoming from Kelsay books in July 2021. She was a finalist in Alexandria Quarterly´s first line poetry contest series and a finalist for The Magnolia Review´s Ink Award. A Best of the Net Nominee, her recent work appears in The Loch Raven Review, Stirring: A Literary Collection, Feral: A Journal of Art and Poetry, Sky Island Journal, and others. She has poems in many anthologies as well. Originally from California, she lives in Spain with her wife and two young children.

Kiana McCrackin > Flash Fiction > South Dakota, USA

Kiana McCrackin is a writer, a photographer (with a BFA in professional photography from The Brooks Institute of Photography), a moon gazer, a tree lover, and a mama. Kiana is most interested as a writer and artist in the experience of being a mother/wife/woman/human and the emotions that come with those roles. She grew up in Alaska, has lived all over the west coast, and currently resides in South Dakota where she is discovering what the wind has to say.

Lara Henneman > Prose Poetry > Maryland, USA

Lara Henneman writes fiction, essays, and poetry. Her work has been featured in McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Baltimore's Child, Scary Mommy, various Medium publications, and now, Sky Island Journal. She is currently working on her first novel. She has a BA from Brown University and an MA from the University of Denver School of International Studies. She lives in Maryland with her growing family.

Lorrie Ness > Poetry > Virginia, USA

Lorrie Ness lives in Virginia. On weekends she can be found hiking through Shenandoah National Park, birding and writing outdoors. Nature is a refuge and source of inspiration for her.  She has past or forthcoming publications in Sky Island Journal, THRUSH Poetry Journal, Barren Magazine, FRiGG, Crack the Spine, SOFTBLOW, The Maryland Literary Review, The American Journal of Poetry, Rosebud, and others.

Mehak Goyal > Poetry > India

A Computer Science Engineer with a Masters in Management from Imperial College London, Mehak Goyal ran a couple of profitable start-ups, before committing herself to becoming a full-time writer. Shortlisted for the Sakhi Awards and the Cinnamon Press literature awards, her writings have appeared or are forthcoming in The American Journal of Poetry, Magma Poetry, One Art, The Madras Courier, ANGLES, The Woman Who Roar, Muse India, The Alipore Post, and elsewhere. She is working on her first poetry collection. Follow her on IG @poetic_quill. 

Michael Pikna > Flash Fiction > Colorado, USA

Michael Pikna is the son of European highwire walkers. Grounded by his parents’ desire for a less peregrine life, he now pursues the more figurative heights of writing. He is a transplant from the wilds of New Jersey, living in Colorado with his wife and an unruly schnauzer. His stories have appeared in Bryant Literary Review, Sky Island Journal, Water~Stone Review, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Hobart, and others.

Miriam Mandel Levi > Flash Fiction > Israel

Miriam Mandel Levi is a writer and editor living in Israel. Her work has appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Brain, Child, Literary Mama, Under the Sun, Poetica, bioStories, Sleet, Tablet, Blue Lyra, Chautauqua, 21st Century Text and Random Sample Review.

Nadine Klassen > Poetry > Germany

Nadine Klassen (she/her) is a German poet, living in her hometown. Her work focuses on mental health, trauma, relationships, and identity. It has been published by Wild Roof Journal, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, Anti-Heroin Chic, and others. She occasionally writes songs, practices painting, or crochets sweaters with puffy sleeves.

Phil Gallos > Creative Nonfiction > New York, USA

Phil Gallos has been a newspaper reporter and columnist, a researcher/writer in the historic preservation field, and has spent 32 years working in academic libraries (which is more interesting than it sounds). Most recently, his writing has been published in Cagibi, The Writing Disorder, STORGY Magazine, Dark Moon Lilith, and Wisconsin Review, among others, and is forthcoming in Blueline and in Defunkt Magazine. He made his Sky Island Journal debut in January 2018. Phil lives and writes in Saranac Lake, New York.

S. Katherine Burnette > Flash Fiction > North Carolina, USA

S. Katherine Burnette's poetry has appeared in Flying South 2019, www.vietnamwarpoetry, and Red Fez, volume 140. She graduated in 2019 with an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte. She earned her BA, in English and Politics, cum laude, and JD degrees from Wake Forest University.  In October 2018 she was appointed to serve as a North Carolina state district court judge for a five-county district. She lives in Oxford, North Carolina with her husband, two parakeets that her eldest child left on their way to graduate school in Boston, and a fluid number of rescue cats.  She has finished her first novel (legal suspense) and is at work on her second one.

Susan Landgraf > Poetry > Washington, USA

Susan Landgraf was awarded an Academy of American Poets Laureate grant in 2020. Two Sylvias Press published The Inspired Poet, a poetry writing book of prompts with poems from 69 poets, in 2019. More than 400 poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Poet Lore, Margie, Nimrod, and others. Other books include What We Bury Changes the Ground and Other Voices. She taught at Highline College for 30 years and at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She’s given more than a hundred and fifty workshops - most recently the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, Fishplate, and the MaST Center - and served as Poet Laureate of Auburn, Washington, from 2018-2020.

Tim Raphael > Poetry > New Mexico, USA

Tim Raphael lives in Northern New Mexico between the Rio Grande Gorge and Sangre de Cristo Mountains with his wife, Kate. They try to lure their three grown children home for hikes and farm chores as often as possible. Tim's poems have been featured in Windfall, Cirque, Canary, The Timberline Review, Gold Man Review, Sky Island Journal, and two Oregon anthologies. He is a graduate of Carleton College.

Tingyu Liu > Poetry > Massachusetts, USA

Tingyu Liu was born in Huaian, China, grew up in Miami, and currently works in Boston in biotech. She has been published in The Normal School, Four Way Review, Borderlands, Bodega, and elsewhere, as well as various scientific journals for her neuroscience research. She has degrees from Pomona College and MIT.