What's in a name?
Everything, really.
In the southern reaches of Arizona and New Mexico, where our journal was born, sky islands are small, isolated mountains that rise up dramatically—like bright battleships on the horizon—from the flat sea of desert that surrounds them.
Physically separated from other mountain ranges, and much higher in elevation than the surrounding desert, sky islands are refugia for exotic species found nowhere else, animals that only migrate vertically, and relict species that have found themselves stranded by a continually warming climate. Known for their ecological diversity, many sky islands are places where species from radically different biomes meet and mingle. Conversely, some promote extreme specialization in the species isolated there.
Sky islands loom large in human culture as well. Originally, they were the homelands of the Hohokam and Mogollon cultures. Later, they became—and still are—the homelands of the Apache, the Akimel O'odham (Pima), and the Tohono O’odham (Papago). Before the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, sky islands formed the beating northern heart of Old Mexico; after, they became the collective muse of raiders and ranchers, writers and warriors, painters and potters—home to the lawful and the lawless, the indigenous and the immigrant, alike.
Isolated yet inclusive, sky islands are home to the lean and the rugged, the specialized and the independent, the tenacious and the beautiful. They are home to the native as well as the exotic. They are home to those who would rather see than be seen—home to the wild and the wild at heart. They are our favorite places because we can relate to them; sky islands embody everything we appreciate about writers and writing.
Our publication's birthplace and spiritual home is our ranch in Luna County, New Mexico. The Florida Mountains Wilderness Study Area is our muse; it is the source of our positive energy, our rugged independence, and our relentless tenacity.
Many moons ago, when we first began, Volume One Magazine profiled our humble origin story, here: http://volumeone.org/articles/2017/05/08/18943_reach_for_the_sky
In 2022, Volume One Magazine sent the incomparable McKenna Scherer to cover our progress: https://volumeone.org/articles/2022/07/21/300887-to-the-sky-beyond-sky-island-journals-5-year
Roughly 7 years after our first issue was published, we have a constellation of over 150,000 readers in over 150 countries and a family of over 1,000 contributors hailing from 52 countries.
Who are we?
Jason Splichal—Co-founder and Co-editor—is a husband, father, photographer, wilderness advocate, and the author of six books including Katsura (2015), Flux (2012), and The Disappeared (2005). Winner of the Lake Superior Writers Prize, his poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction have appeared in journals, magazines, and anthologies throughout the United States. He holds undergraduate degrees in Comprehensive English Education and American Indian Studies, as well as a master’s degree in Education. His graduate work proved that natural light and living plants in the classroom create statistically significant increases in academic achievement and student engagement. His postgraduate work focused on examining the connections between consciousness and creation in the Language Arts classroom by developing and implementing strategies to help students initiate, control, and sustain flow states (theta states) in the creative writing process. He divides his time between his ranch in New Mexico and his home in Wisconsin—where he served children and families for 22 years as an award-winning English teacher. He works in the shipping container industry by day and gives his heart to Sky Island Journal by night.
Jeff Sommerfeld, Ed.D.—Co-founder, Co-editor, and Host of Voices from the Sky—is an educator and lifelong learner who believes the two are inextricably linked. He holds a Doctor of Education from Alverno College (Milwaukee, WI), where he focused on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and his research centers on filling pedagogical gaps in arts education through school and community partnerships. His reading palette is as diverse as his professional writing background; he developed successful litigation strategies for Fortune 500 clients, secured millions of dollars in grant funding for nonprofit organizations, and held the role of Lead Writer for a professional sports website. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, he has served graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Arizona and secondary students throughout the United States. He currently teaches and mentors preservice and licensed K-12 educators at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Alverno College, and serves as a national trainer with the Center for Teacher Effectiveness. Born and raised in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, he and his wife reside near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with their dogs, Miller, Leinie, and Summit.
