Read here. During dark times, we must celebrate the light. We must cheer that much harder for births and birthdays, for promotions and retirements. In the summer we must exalt the longer days, even if each one brings another day of hardship, sacrifice, and struggle. We must wave each small, happy moment like a child waves a sparkler at the looming shadows in the night.
In this issue, our characters wrestle with the cold darkness of death and grief, abuse and sickness, yet they still find bright sparks of warmth from within themselves. And as we read about these struggles, we editors and readers set off bottle rockets and roman candles for 16 more debut and emerging creators.
Fiction
Emma Campbell, Bookends
Kennedy Harrison, War Paint
M.W. de Jesus, Hired Help
D.H. Kelly, Absolute Value
Lucy Marcus, Sophie
Nonfiction
Anna Jurek, We Mourn
Lee-Ann Liles, The Golden Rope
Poetry
Hiraa Kazmi, Years
Jamal Michel, 170 Degrees
Toolbox
Emily Tuttle, Virginia Woolf
Kirby Wright, September City
Art
Cover: Rebecka Skog, Sunset
Vasiliki Argyris, Obsessive
Preparing
Michelle Davidson, Barriers
Catalyst
Roger Leege, New Management
Rebecka Skog, Gravity
Jim Zola, Beached
Self-Portrait with Butterflies