OPENING LETTERS > FROM THE EDITORS

Winter always finds a way to surprise me. Depending on the geographical region where you're reading this, there may be general expectations for the season, and sometimes those ring true when linking the days together. Nonetheless, I still remember the day that it snowed on the Sonoran Desert of Tucson, Arizona, and I was pleasantly surprised by how clear the aisles were at the local grocery store that afternoon. This winter, I'm living in Wisconsin, and while peering out the window deceptive rays of sunlight often bounce and glitter off the thin blanket of snow, which compel me to grab a light jacket and maybe opt for a baseball cap, but as soon as I open the door, I'm knocked back by a wind chill that’s well below zero. Conversely, when I awoke this morning, the sky seemed a gloomy sheet of gray, but when I opened my front door, I was greeted to temperatures that has risen nearly 30 degrees since the night before, and the inviting air gave me an unforeseen bounce in my step as I made my way to the car. While seasons like summer and fall naturally move me to savor, it is the unpredictability of winter that I appreciate the most. On some level, I think I like to expect a little bit of the unexpected.

Along those lines, a group of friends recently invited me to join them for an exhibit called Beyond Van Gogh: An Immersive Experience, which is sweeping across several major cities throughout the United States and Canada. I didn't know much about it, but they were making their third trip to see it, so I told them to count me in. I know a few works by Van Gogh and have read some of his biographical information in the past, yet I walked into the exhibit not quite knowing what to expect. In the initial room, curated by French-Canadian creative director Mathieu St-Arnaud and his team at Montreal's Normal Studio, viewers are treated to works of Van Gogh paired with writings from letters Vincent sent to his brother Theo. The combination of seeing Van Gogh's art in unison with intimate words such as these set the tone for the next room, where his paintings flowed across the walls and along the floor as music drove us throughout the stages of his artistic career. It was like stepping into the life and creative world of Van Gogh, fully immersed, just as the title promised. I'm glad I didn't know exactly what was coming—being so surprised increased my enjoyment and fueled my intellectual and emotional response to the artistic experience.

When I look at each piece of this issue, I see a similar promise. Every poet and every writer featured here has created and finely crafted each element of a unique literary world for you to step into and fully engage with, and all you need to do is click the orange button with its title. There was a time, back in 2017 when we began this journey at Sky Island Journal, when I wanted to give a one-sentence teaser for each story, essay, and poem. Looking back now, I'm happier that we can offer a bit more of an element of surprise.

So, wherever you are in this beautiful and unpredictable world, I'm confident you will be transported, moved emotionally and intellectually by these tremendous works. Thank you for joining us here at Sky Island Journal, and enjoy the ride that is Issue 19 (Winter 2022)!

Respectfully,

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

As an international literary journal, our positive energy, rugged independence, and relentless tenacity have kept us strong—and publishing—through the pandemic. As we grow, we draw on this same strength to ensure that every step we take into the always-uncertain future is made with kindness and humility. 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.

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. Without advertising, you can fully engage with the worlds of words our contributors have so carefully crafted for you. Without subscription fees, you are welcome to read and enjoy whenever you like, wherever 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. It’s okay to slow down here; it’s okay to take your time. It’s okay to think new thoughts and feel new feelings—to be transported emotionally and challenged intellectually. It’s okay to simply be present and savor: to reflect, to gather strength, to be inspired or called to action. Here, you are one of us, and we are strong. We are where the desert meets the mountains—where the indigenous meets the exotic and the old ways meet the digital frontier.

Of the 1,152 individual pieces that we received from around the world for Issue 19, we found these 46 to be the finest. Welcome to Sky Island. Welcome home.

Respectfully,

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

Abigail Weathers > Poetry > China

Abigail Weathers is a teacher and copy editor who found her way to writing poetry with the support and guidance of some very dear friends. Originally from North Carolina, she has lived in Beijing, China since 2014. She is a member of the China-based Spittoon Literary Collective and facilitates the Spittoon Poetry Workshop. When not writing poetry, she can often be found singing, biking, collecting books to read, and drawing and painting birds. Her previously published poetry has appeared in A Shanghai Poetry Zine.

Adrianna Sanchez-Lopez > Creative Nonfiction > Colorado, USA

Adrianna Sanchez-Lopez writes in an oversized chair located in her San Luis Valley home. Her recent work has appeared in The Brooklyn Review, The Nasiona, Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine and elsewhere.

Andrew Beckner > Poetry > California, USA

Andrew Beckner is a writer from central Indiana. He has published fiction, non-fiction, and prose poetry. His work has most recently appeared in or is forthcoming from Chicago Quarterly Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, LandLocked, and Red Wheelbarrow, among others. He lives in Southern California, where he teaches composition and creative writing.

Benjamin Davis > Creative Nonfiction > South Korea

Benjamin Davis is a recovering fintech journalist, folklore addict, and author of a novella-in-verse: The King of FU (Nada Blank, 2018). His stories can be found in Hobart Pulp, Maudlin House, Star 82 Review, 5x5, Cease, Cows, Bending Genres, and elsewhere. 

Bethany Jarmul > Creative Nonfiction > Pennsylvania, USA

Bethany Jarmul is a writer and work-from-home mom. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Literary Mama, Scribes*MICRO*Fiction, and Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose. She grew up in the hills of West Virginia and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her family. 

C.S. Vance > Flash Fiction > Montana, USA

C.S. Vance writes from the mountains of Montana where she is inspired by misty mornings, brilliant days, and starry nights. Her work has been featured in Mountain Outlaw and Sky Island Journal, among other publications.

Christian Knoeller > Poetry > Indiana, USA

Christian Knoeller is Professor Emeritus of English at Purdue University. In recent years, his scholarship on environmental history as well as Midwestern and Native American literature has appeared internationally in leading ecocritical journals including Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment and the Journal of Ecocriticism in Canada. He has received both the Gwendolyn Brooks Prize for Poetry and the MidAmerica Award for scholarly contributions to the field from the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature and is a past President of the Society.  His most recent book, Reimagining Environmental History: Ecological Memory in the Wake of Landscape Change, was published by the University of Nevada Press (2017).  His first collection of poems, Completing the Circle from Buttonwood Press, was awarded the Millennium Prize.

Dagne Forrest > Creative Nonfiction > Canada

Dagne Forrest's poetry has appeared in journals in Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK. In 2021 she was one of 15 poets featured in the League of Canadian Poets' annual Poem in Your Pocket campaign, had a poem shortlisted for the prestigious Bridport Prize, and won first prize in the Hammond House Publishing International Literary Prize (Poetry). Her creative nonfiction has appeared in Paper Dragon and Sky Island Journal.

Dian Parker > Creative Nonfiction > Vermont, USA

Dian Parker’s essays, short stories, and articles have been published in numerous literary journals, magazines, and newspapers, and nominated for several Pushcart Prizes. An avid gardener and oil painter, she has also traveled extensively, living in the Middle East, including Syria before its heartbreaking devastation. Dian ran White River Gallery, curating twenty exhibits, before the pandemic forced her to close. She now lives in the hills of Vermont surrounded by forests and wildlife, learning through surrender, love, and long hours of stillness that everything is interconnected.

Diane Raven > Poetry > Michigan, USA

Diane Raven is a naturalist, therapist, illustrator, and writer. She holds a Master of Education in Counseling with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She co-founded Headwaters Environmental Station in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where she taught environmental education for twenty-five years. Later, she worked as a childhood trauma therapist, designed art therapy interventions, and directed the art therapy program for an adolescent, residential behavioral health agency. She authored the chapter, “Hidden Voices: Creative Art Therapy Interventions for Adolescents with Dissociation” in The Fractured Child: Diagnosis and Treatment of Youth with Dissociation. Her creative nonfiction, poetry, and photography have been published in Sky Island Journal.

Eleanor Lerman > Poetry > New York, USA

Eleanor Lerman is the author of numerous award-winning collections of poetry, short stories, and novels. She is a National Book Award finalist, a recipient of the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets, winner of the Campbell Award for the 2016 best book of Science Fiction and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts for poetry and the New York Foundation for the Arts for fiction. Her most recent novel, Watkins Glen (Mayapple Press) was published in June 2021.

Ginger Harris > Poetry > Colorado, USA

Ginger Harris is a writer who lives in Empire, Colorado. Her poetry has appeared in The Rising Phoenix Review, Tiny Spoon, and Ghost City Review.

Gordon W. Mennenga > Poetry > Iowa, USA

Gordon W. Mennenga grew up in Iowa and earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He has taught creative writing and film studies at DePauw University, Oregon State University, Coe College and the University of Iowa’s Summer Writing Festival. He has published fiction, poetry and essays in The North American Review, Hamilton Stone Review, Epoch, The Mississippi Review, and forthcoming in The Bellingham Review. His monologues have been featured on NPR and have been produced by the Riverside Theatre Company. His craft talk, “Writing Under the Influence,” is available from the Writing University, podcast Episode 105. He has just finished work on a book of poems titled Warm the Knife. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

Janet Albaugh > Creative Nonfiction > California, USA

Janet Albaugh’s first goal was to make a living writing. Second goal, to make a living writing without wearing pantyhose. She’s been paid to be a beauty editor, food editor, travel writer, staff writer and freelancer, cookbook author and writer of memoirs. Her byline has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, the Huffington Post, Holiday, Hospitality, Folks Magazine, Woven Tale Press, Sidereal Magazine, and Lunch Ticket. She lives in Beverly Hills with her husband and dog, neither of whom are obedient.

Jason Hackett > Poetry > Arizona, USA

Jason Hackett is a small business owner, father of four and sleep deprived. Jason’s poems can be found in The Journal of American Poetry, Slippery Elm Literary Journal, Scarlet Leaf Review, Cholla Needles, Crack the Spine, Mental Papercuts, Blue River Review, and Sky Island Journal.

John Muro > Poetry > Connecticut, USA

A resident of Connecticut, John Muro is a graduate of Trinity College, Wesleyan University, and the University of Connecticut. His first volume of poems, In the Lilac Hour, was published in the fall of 2020 by Antrim House, and it is available on Amazon. John’s poems have been published or are forthcoming in numerous literary journals, including BlueHouse, Euphony, Moria, Penumbra Online, River Heron, Third Wednesday, and the French Literary Review. John is also a two-time nominee for the 2021 Pushcart Prize.

KA Rees > Poetry > Australia

KA Rees is a writer of poetry and short fiction. Her work can be found in Australian Poetry Anthology, Australian Poetry Journal, Cordite Poetry Review, Kill Your Darlings' New Australian Fiction 2020, Margaret River Press, Overland, Spineless Wonders Publishing, and Yalobusha Review, among others. Kate has shared her work through readings and residencies including a stint at the State Library of NSW where she was café poet in residence and at the Sydney Observatory where she was a resident, writing nocturnes under the southern night sky. Her poetry collection Come the Bones is published through Flying Island as a pocketbook of poetry (2021). Kate lives in Sydney.

Kari Gunter-Seymour > Poetry > Ohio, USA

Kari Gunter-Seymour’s poetry collections include A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen, winner of the 2020 Ohio Poet of the Year Award and Serving. Her poems appear in numerous journals and publications including Poem-A-Day, Verse Daily, Rattle, World Literature Today, The NY Times, and on her website. A ninth generation Appalachian, she is the founder/executive director of the Women of Appalachia Project (WOAP) and editor of the WOAP anthology series, Women Speak. She is a recipient of a 2021 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship and Poet Laureate of Ohio.

Lew Forester > Poetry > Colorado, USA

Lew Forester is a retired social worker and a Multiple Myeloma survivor. He lives with his wife in Arvada, Colorado and is often found hiking in the nearby mountains. The author of Dialogues with Light (Orchard Street Press, 2019), Lew’s poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, Main Street Rag, Blue Mountain Review, Plainsongs, POEM, Slipstream, The MacGuffin, Evening Street Review and other journals, magazines, and anthologies. This is his first appearance in Sky Island Journal.

Lisa Alletson > Creative Nonfiction > Canada

Lisa Alletson was raised in South Africa and England, and now lives in Canada. Her poems and prose are published or forthcoming in Crab Creek Review, New Ohio Review, Eunoia Review, Lumiere Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Sledgehammer Lit. Her chapbook manuscript was a finalist in the Variant Lit and Swan Scythe Press contests in 2021.

Lorrie Ness > Poetry > Virginia, USA

Originally from Indiana, Lorrie Ness currently lives and writes in Virginia, where she takes her inspiration from the outdoors. When not writing, she can be found hiking, birding and otherwise digging in the dirt or disappearing into the woods. Her work can be found at numerous online journals including Palette Poetry, THRUSH, Typishly, The Shore, and Sky Island Journal. Her chapbook, Anatomy of a Wound was published in 2021 by Flowstone Press.

Maggie Lerum > Flash Fiction > Wyoming, USA

Maggie Lerum is from Greybull, Wyoming and has recently graduated with a degree in English and Linguistics. When she wasn’t doing formal research concerning her thesis: “American Mythology and The History of Scandinavia and Eastern Europe: How They Converged and How They’ve Since Divided in the Eyes of the West,” Maggie also wrote for University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s branch of the blog website, Hercampus, as an entertainment critic. Her most-viewed articles include: “Hollywood Needs to Stay Out of Politics,” “Why Gilmore Girls Failed Even Before Season 7,” and “Joey: The Forgotten Friend.” Maggie is currently working to publish her first science-fiction/fantasy novel.

Michael L. Scheiwe > Poetry > Michigan, USA

Michael L. Scheiwe is an environmental educator and writer. He co-founded Headwaters Environmental Station in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As naturalist-in-residence, Michael taught and wrote about the ecology of the Keweenaw Bioregion. He produced the radio program, Journeys into a Sense of Place, for NPR affiliate WGGL, broadcasting from Michigan Technological University where he also taught ornithology and wrote the column, Along the Faultline. Michael wrote and produced the audio-visual presentation, “Wilderness Coming Home” for Northwoods Wilderness Recovery. His poem, “Recall the Hawk,” was a finalist in the 2020 Joy Harjo Poetry Prize for Cutthroat, a Journal of the Arts.

Nelly Shulman > Flash Fiction > Russia

Nelly Shulman is a writer currently based in Berlin. She is an author of five novels in the Russian language. She is working on her fifth novel and on a non-fiction book about the Russian revolution. She is a Fulbright fellow and a winner of two prestigious Russian literary prizes. Her work has been published on JewishFiction.net and in the Vine Leaves Press Anthology of the Best 2021 Flash Fiction.

Nicole F. Kimball > Poetry > Utah, USA

Nicole F. Kimball is a poet, musician, and proud Piscean from SLC, Utah. She holds an undergraduate degree in Creative Writing and is an aspiring editor. She has been published in Sunspot Literary Journal, Book of Matches Lit, Bear Creek Gazette, Trouvaille Review, and THE POET magazine. Her work is forthcoming in Mom Egg Review, is/let poetry, Anti Heroin Chic, and The Hearth Poetry Journal. 

Nikki Williams > Flash Fiction > Jamaica

Nikki Williams is a multimedia journalist and writer. Her work appears in The Citron Review, Ellipsiszine, Sublunary Review, LEON Literary Review, Literary Yard, PreeLit, and other publications. She munches trail mix and takes stunning photos when not busy writing.

Pamela Hobart Carter > Poetry > Washington, USA

For thirty years Pamela Hobart Carter taught science, preschool, and a few other things. Now she teaches on the side, and writes poems, plays, fiction, and nonfiction. PHC is the author of two poetry chapbooks: Her Imaginary Museum (Kelsay Books, 2020) and Held Together with Tape and Glue (Finishing Line Press, 2021). Her plays have been read or produced in Seattle (her home), Montreal (her childhood home) and Fort Worth (where she has only visited). She is also a visual artist and trained as a geologist. Find out more at her website.

Patricia Killelea > Poetry > Michigan, USA

Patricia Killelea’s most recent poetry collection is Counterglow (Urban Farmhouse Press, 2019). Her work appears in Seneca Review, cream city review, Quarterly West, Barzakh, Waxwing, The Common, Trampoline, and Spiritus. She also produces videopoems, which have been featured at Atticus Review, Moving Poems, Poetry Film Live, screened and shortlisted for the Ó'Bhéal International Poetry Film Competition, and long listed for the Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Prize. She lives in the rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

Sarah Normandie > Creative Nonfiction > Connecticut, USA

Sarah Normandie lives in New England. A former teacher and government attorney, Sarah currently negotiates multi-million dollar deals for a Fortune-500 Company by day and writes by night. Married to her high school prom date, she is the proud mom of two amazing children. Sarah has studied writing under the UCLA Writers’ Extension Program and has been a longstanding student of several writing and philosophy classes led by Hollywood story structure guru, John Truby. She recently completed her novel, Monsters Like Us and is working on her next book. 

Sigrun Susan Lane > Poetry > Washington, USA

Sigrun Susan Lane lives in Seattle Washington. She is the author of two chapbooks, Little Bones and SALT, which won the Josephine Miles award for excellence in 2020. Her poems have appeared in Crab Creek Review, Malahat Review, Seattle Review and many other journals. She has won awards for poetry from the Seattle Arts Commission and the King County Arts Commission.

Stuti Sinha > Poetry > United Arab Emirates

Stuti Sinha is an Indian writer from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She writes about the human condition and emotions in poetry and prose. She has received an honorable mention in the 2021 Annual Haiku Competition by the Society of Classical Poets and has been published by them as well as by Wingless Dreamer Publishers in their 2021 winter anthology. Stuti is an avid musician and passionate about discovering different cultures and the human experience through travel.

Tiffany Doerr Guerzon > Creative Nonfiction > Washington, USA

Tiffany Doerr Guerzon is a freelance writer and essayist whose work has been featured in CNN's Health and Wellness section, Parents.com, Grown and Flown, the Christian Science Monitor, Chicken Soup for the Soul, ParentMap Magazine and more. She lives in the foothills of the Cascade mountains near Seattle with her husband and three children. She spends as much time in the woods as possible.

Tracy A. Lightsey > Poetry > Colorado, USA

Tracy A. Lightsey is from the mountains of Western Colorado, where he lives, teaches, farms, and practices massage therapy. He studied at the University of Northern Colorado with James Doyle and with Aaron Abeyta at Western Colorado University. He has been previously published in Bloodroot Literary Magazine.