OPENING LETTERS > FROM THE EDITORS
Sky Island Journal hails from southwestern New Mexico, where the desert meets the mountains and the indigenous meets the exotic. This is a land of shapeshifters, where the old gods find sanctuary. This is a forever land, one of Gemini dualities: a place where the twins—time and space—are conjoined. The fabric between worlds is thin here, the veil between dimensions translucent and porous. You feel, at once, in the vibration of your blood, the bright sun of all our warm origins and the dark shadows of all our cool returns. The writing we publish from around the world is always similar in this regard, and Issue 18’s poetry and creative nonfiction are no exceptions, but its flash fiction fits deliciously true to size.
As an independent international literary journal, our positive energy, our rugged independence, and our relentless tenacity kept us strong and publishing throughout the worst of the pandemic in our corner of the world. Now, that same strength helps ensure that 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 beautiful, diverse family of contributors and our constellation of loyal readers.
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 departure from how many literary journals present writing to their readers online, but we think it is a refreshing change for the better.
Of the 1,159 individual pieces that we received from around the world for Issue 18, we found these 37 to be the finest. Enjoy!
Welcome to Sky Island. Welcome home.
Respectfully,
Jason Splichal, Co-Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief
I spent this past Saturday floating down the Red Cedar River with my brother. He scouted a spot to launch our canoe near Cameron, Wisconsin, and we spent all day on the water, meandering downstream to a park south of Chetek. The forecast called for scattered showers later in the afternoon, and I wasn't sure how long it would take to complete our planned float, so I started off flipping my paddle left and right to propel us on a path to our final landing spot. It felt unnatural to be in such a hurry to finish a trip I had been looking forward to for months, so I took a clue from my brother. He would periodically put down his paddle, cast a line with his fishing pole, and point out wildlife I would have otherwise missed. When I placed my paddle across my lap and finally looked up, I noticed that the fog of the morning had lifted, and the previously overcast sky had opened up with its brilliant backdrop of blue, allowing piercing rays of sunshine to shoot through billowy white clouds. I watched intently as a bald eagle spread its wings to glide and swoop overhead. Further downstream, I peered silently as a whitetail deer slinked in and out of its wooded camouflage while moving cautiously along the shoreline. It was in these moments that I remembered why we made the trip in the first place. I remembered that it's okay to slow down. In fact, it's often essential.
That is why each piece of writing that we publish at 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. We want your experience with each contributor's work to be singular: just as it would be on the printed page, with crisp white paper between your collective fingertips. As I was reminded while on the Red Cedar River, it's okay to slow down. We hope you are able to enter the literary worlds of these tremendous pieces completely, and fully savor the experience.
We firmly believe that each piece in Issue 18 has the power to transport you intellectually and emotionally. We can put down the paddles of our busy lives and allow the current of literature to whisk us away. Thank you for joining us and enjoy the ride!
Respectfully,
Jeff Sommerfeld, Co-Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief
Adina Edelman > Poetry > Maryland, USA
Adina Edelman is a book editor based in Baltimore, MD. Her business, EdelmanEdits, helps memoir and self-help writers mine their message for gold. Adina graduated summa cum laude from Southern New Hampshire University with a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. She serves as an editor for The Baltimore Review and has been published in The Penmen Review, Mizmor Poetry Anthology, Bridge Literary Journal, and Haunted Waters Press.
Anna Sochocky > Creative Nonfiction > New Mexico, USA
Anna Sochocky is a past award winner and participant in the SASE Nonfiction Mentorship Program, the Creative Nonfiction Mentorship, Loft Literary Center, and Norcroft: A Writing Retreat for Women and Room of Her Own Foundation residencies. Her poem, “Vanishing Romance,” was published in the 2001 issue of Water-Stone Literary Journal and an excerpt from her memoir was published in the 2003 issue as well. In 2005, Sochocky was awarded an Honorable Mention in the winter New Millennium Writings journal contest and the Fourth Genre Michigan State University Editor’s Prize. Sochocky is a resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico where she lives with her photographer husband, Steven Martin Williams.
Archisha Moudgil > Poetry > Singapore
Archisha Moudgil lives and writes in Singapore. She fell in love with books as a child and her enthusiasm for exploring the universe through written word is still going strong. Today she is pursuing her dream of being a published writer. Through her poetry, she explores the kaleidoscope of human emotions from a place of curiosity. When she’s not lost in a word world, she enjoys photography and exploring nooks and crannies of Singapore with her dog.
Ateeb Gul > Poetry > Pakistan
Ateeb Gul is a Teaching Fellow and Senior Editor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). A graduate of LUMS and of the Boston University's Editorial Institute, his literary work has featured in Literary Imagination, Ink in Thirds, and Sky Island Journal.
Christopher Hadin > Flash Fiction > Connecticut, USA
Christopher Hadin was born in Michigan and graduated from Michigan State
University. He has taught environmental education in New England and Puget
Sound, coordinated community gardens and urban ecology programs, and
currently runs a horticulture therapy/environmental enrichment program for
adults with disabilities. He lives in Bethel, Connecticut.
Dagne Forrest > Poetry > Ontario, Canada
Dagne Forrest's poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in journals in Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK. In 2021, she was one of 15 poets featured in Canada’s Poem in Your Pocket campaign.
Dick Altman > Poetry > New Mexico, USA
Dick Altman writes in the high, thin, magical air of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where, at 7,000 feet, reality and imagination often blur. He is published in Santa Fe Literary Review, American Journal of Poetry, riverSedge, Fredericksburg Literary Review, Foliate Oak, Blue Line, THE Magazine, Humana obscura, Tatterhood Review, The Offbeat, Haunted Waters Press, Split Rock Review, The RavensPerch, Beyond Words, Sky Island Journal, and others here and abroad. He is a poetry winner of the Santa Fe New Mexican’s annual literary competition. He has, in progress, two collections of published poetry: Voices in the Heart of Stones and Telling the Broken Sky.
Dila Toplusoy > Poetry > Turkey
Dila Toplusoy is an emerging writer and poet from Istanbul, Turkey. She holds a first class honours degree in Media and Cultural Studies (now renamed as Contemporary Media Cultures) from University of the Arts London. Her work has appeared in several print and online publications including Sky Island Journal, Any Segment Magazine, The Bower Monologues, The Story Seed and Coronaverses Collective. Words have always been among Dila's closest companions in her search for meaning, authenticity, and truth since childhood. In her writing, she explores the beauty and mystery of our shared human experience, mindful and compassionate living, and our interconnectedness with nature.
Erica A. Fletcher > Poetry > Massachusetts, USA
Erica A. Fletcher works in biomedical research in Boston. Her poems have been published in Hawk and Whippoorwill, Uppagus, Silkworm, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, and The Writers' Cafe Magazine. She has played in the rock band Nurse & Soldier since 1997.
J. L. Shively > Flash Fiction > Maine, USA
J. L. Shively lives on a sparsely populated peninsula on the coast of Maine where she is continuing her search for old cemeteries and abandoned places while completing her collection of short horror stories. She has a Master of Letters from Drew University where she studied creative writing and the psychological fascination of modern ruin. You can follow her @entertheruin. In her writing, Shively focuses on character-driven fiction and adventure stories that are thrilling or even speculative in nature. She leverages the strength of a story’s capacity to showcase the humanity of horror and the power of terrific narrative. Shively is currently pursuing publication for her adult, climate fiction novel and although she has left the Cape behind, she continues to write of its beauty and its ghosts.
Jared Povanda > Flash Fiction > New York, USA
Jared Povanda is an internationally published writer and freelance editor from upstate New York. His writing has won awards, such as Versification's Fierce Flash contest, and has been nominated for coveted spots in Best of the Net and Best Microfiction. In addition to Sky Island Journal, his writing can be found in fine venues such as Pidgeonholes, CHEAP POP, Wrongdoing Magazine, Emerge Literary Journal, and Hobart, among many others.
Jeannie E. Roberts > Poetry > Wisconsin, USA
Jeannie E. Roberts lives in Wisconsin, where she writes, draws and paints, and often photographs her natural surroundings. She’s authored five poetry collections and two illustrated children's books. Her newest poetry collection, As If Labyrinth - Pandemic Inspired Poems, was released by Kelsay Books in April of 2021. She’s an animal lover, a nature enthusiast, and an equal rights advocate. She's also a teacher and poetry editor of the online literary magazine Halfway Down the Stairs.
Kiana McCrackin >Flash Fiction > South Dakota, USA
Kiana McCrackin is a writer, a photographer (with a BFA from The Brooks Institute of Photography), a cloud gazer, and a mama. Kiana is eternally inspired by the emotions of the human experience and the landscapes she has called home: Alaska, California, and Washington. She currently resides in South Dakota where she is learning what the wind has to say and translating what the trees tell her.
Kristina Garvin > Creative Nonfiction > Pennsylvania, USA
Kristina Garvin lives in Philadelphia. She earned a Ph.D. in early American literature from Ohio State University and has written extensively on the novels of Charles Brockden Brown. Her essays and stories have appeared in or are forthcoming from America Magazine, Windmill, PopMatters, Cultural Critique, and elsewhere. She currently works in the nonprofit sector.
Lalini Shanela Ranaraja > Poetry > Sri Lanka
Lalini Shanela Ranaraja is a multi-genre writer from Kandy, Sri Lanka. She holds a BA in anthropology and creative writing from Augustana College in Illinois. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in ANGLES Magazine, Club Plum Literary Journal, Entropy, Lammergeier, SAGA Art & Literary Magazine, Sky Island Journal, and Transition.
Leonardo Josue Espinal > Creative Nonfiction > Honduras
Leonardo Josue Espinal (Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 1999) is a bilingual writer currently pursuing his undergraduate studies in Argentina, which came to fruition after living two years in Taiwan. An unforgettable experience that made him realize his aspirations lie within the realm of literature. Therefore, a change of scenery to the cradle of Latin American literature was only natural for him. He possesses eleven literary publications (articles, essays, and short stories) in American, Spanish, and Argentine magazines.
Linda Rittenhouse > Creative Nonfiction > Arizona, USA
Linda Rittenhouse writes poetry that reveals both her lifelong connection with nature as well as her continued attempts to understand forms of love. Her poetry has been published in The Lyric Magazine and Sandcutters. She also writes poetry for children and has a website dedicated to encouraging kids to participate in poetry. During 2021 she published a young adult novel, Fearless! inspired by her student athletes during twenty years as a middle school four-sport coach and French and Spanish teacher as well as a picture book series for children about a persnickety “Nana Posy” who likes her backyard Arizona wildlife to behave a certain way.
Marissa Glover > Poetry > Florida, USA
Named a 2020 Best of the Net Finalist and recently nominated in 2021 by Middle House Review and River Mouth Review, Marissa Glover lives in Florida, where she serves as co-editor of Orange Blossom Review and a senior editor at The Lascaux Review. Her poetry has been published in Rattle, Rust + Moth, SWWIM Every Day, and other journals. Marissa’s full-length poetry collection, Let Go of the Hands You Hold, was released in April 2021 from Mercer University Press.
Melissa Perri Smith > Poetry > Virginia, USA
Melissa Perri Smith is a writer and editor based in the Washington, D.C. area. She graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois with a degree in International Relations and Religious Studies and currently works on a contract with the U.S. Coast Guard as a technical writer in their Acquisitions Department. She has work featured in Sky Island Journal, io Literary Journal, Channel Magazine, Trouvaille Review, and Mixed Asian Media.
Michele Lovell > Creative Nonfiction > Washington, USA
Michele Lovell lives in S.W. Washington state where she and her partner run a small nonprofit senior dog and horse rescue. Prior to this, she worked with children in the mental health field for many years. Her work has been published in Hip Mama, Penduline Press, Sonora Review, Main Street Rag, and Sky Island Journal.
Nikki Ummel > Poetry > Louisiana, USA
Nikki Ummel is a queer writer, editor, and educator at the University of New Orleans. Nikki has been published or is forthcoming in Painted Bride Quarterly, The Adroit, Hobart, Midwest Quarterly, Sky Island Journal, and more. She is the 2021 winner of French Quarter Journal’s Lightning Strikes poetry contest and an Academy of American Poets Award. She is currently the Associate Poetry Editor for Bayou Magazine.
Olga Dugan > Poetry > Pennsylvania, USA
Olga Dugan is a Cave Canem poet. Nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes, her award-winning poems are forthcoming or recently appear in Channel (Ireland), Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith, The Windhover, Grand Little Things, Ariel Chart, The Write Launch, E-Verse Radio, Poems from Pandemia – An Anthology, and several other literary publications. Olga holds a PhD in Literary History and Culture from the University of Rochester, and her articles on poetry, drama, and cultural memory appear in The Journal of African American History, The North Star, and in Emory University's “Meet the Fellows.”
Patrick Malka > Flash Fiction > Quebec, Canada
Patrick Malka (he/him) is a high school science teacher from Montreal, Quebec, where he lives with his partner and two children. His recent flash fiction can be found in Coffin Bell Journal and the Crystal Lake Publishing Patreon page.
Rebecca Brock > Poetry > Virginia, USA
Rebecca Brock's work has been published or is forthcoming in The Threepenny Review, CALYX, Mom Egg Review, 86 Logic & elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Bennington College. Recently, she won the Spring 2021 prize at Sheila-Na-Gig Online. Idaho born, she has lived temporarily in Virginia for nearly twenty years and still isn't used to the humidity. She is the mother of two sons and finds parenthood to be a perplexing, sometimes terribly beautiful, gamble of her heart.
Richard Lister > Poetry > United Kingdom
Richard Lister draws you into the stories of intriguing people, places, and cultures. His poetry is ‘a celebration of ordinary magic perceived by a keen eye,’ is ‘rich in allusions and textual layers’ and is characterized ‘by a painterly touch.’ He draws on his experience of living and working in Cambodia during an ongoing conflict, in Malawi, a country known as ‘The Warm Heart of Africa’, and across the UK. Richard is a Mole Valley Poet, and his work has been carved into the Radius Sculpture, displayed in The Fading of the Light Exhibition, and published in a range of international, national, and local collections. He works as a coach and mentor for leaders across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. As a Christian, some of his poetry reflects his yearning for an elusive God and ponders faith and life. 'He certainly knows how to deliver a poem with body, soul and mind'.
Robin Schauffler > Creative Nonfiction > Oregon, USA
Robin Schauffler is a writer, a watercolor artist, a retired teacher, and (in pre-covid times) a traveler, based in Portland, Oregon. She is on the board of Street Books, a bicycle-powered mobile library serving people living outside. In 1997 she and her husband quit perfectly good jobs and moved to Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico, where they lived and worked for three years. She has recently completed a collection of essays reflecting on that time in Mexico, and several have been published. Her fiction and nonfiction work has appeared in Open Spaces, Voicecatcher, Cargo Literary, Timberline Review, Whistling Shade, Hawaii Pacific Review, Aji, Ocotillo Review, as feature articles in Street Roots, and forthcoming in The Fourth River and Silk Road Review.
Rupert Fike > Poetry > Georgia, USA
Rupert Fike's second collection of poems, Hello the House, (Snake Nation Press, 2018) won the Haas Poetry Prize and was listed as one of the "Books All Georgians Should Read, 2018." His work has appeared in The Southern Poetry Review, The Sun (forthcoming), Scalawag Magazine, The Georgetown Review, A&U America's AIDS Magazine, The Flannery O'Connor Review, The Buddhist Poetry Review, Natural Bridge and others. He has a poem inscribed in a downtown Atlanta Plaza, and his non-fiction, Voices from The Farm, examines his nine years on a spiritual commune in Tennessee.
Stephanie Greene > Flash Fiction > Vermont, USA
Stephanie Greene’s short fiction has been published in Nostoc Magazine, Green Mountains Review, Sky Island Journal, The New Guard and Flash Fiction Magazine. Her work has been long-listed for the Lascaux Prize for Short Fiction, nominated for inclusion in the Best of the Net Anthology and for a Pushcart Prize. She is revising her second novel, A Perm for Mrs. Medusa. An organizer of the Brattleboro Literary Festival, she lives in Vermont with her husband, writer Marshall Brooks.