Dear Solstice Friends,
Spring is finally springing here in the Boston area. Despite the recent nor’easter and the voracious appetite wild rabbits have this time of year, which almost killed the daffodils and hyacinths popping up in my yard, I’m now enjoying the sight of delicate yellows and purples and deep blues in full bloom. I’ve not only been captured by their beauty but also I’ve been reminded of their grit. They push and push through the dirt until they are out of the ground. And when a frost lasting days hits, or when sharp teeth chomp on their leaves, they still push on, persevering, flourishing.
I see a connection between the blooming perennials in my garden and the work we do as writers. Our goal is similar: to push on despite the obstacles that come our way. Writing is an imperative. We must write regardless of the piling rejections or the circumstances that threaten to disrupt our work. And it is because of this urgent need to write that I’ve made the decision to step down from my role as Solstice’s Editor in Chief. For many years I’ve been working on a memoir that chronicles the trauma I suffered growing up during the Colombian drug war and civil arm conflict, and my forced immigration to the US. The path of memoir writing has been full of challenges but my perseverance is paying off––the hope that this manuscript will one day be a published book is sprouting into a possible reality. However, there is much work ahead and so I must make time to focus on this project.
The last eighteen months with Solstice have been educational and rewarding. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to work with a group of remarkable editors and readers who share a passion for writing and who are incredibly dedicated to the literary arts and to this magazine. I’m especially grateful to our Managing Editor, Annaka Saari, who has been a brilliant and supportive colleague. What’s more, the work of our editors—Robbie Gamble, Lee Hope, Richard Hoffman, Drai Whitted, Barbara Siegel Carlson and Ewa Chrusciel—has been immensely inspiring and perhaps has even shaped how I think about my own writing.
In this Spring 2024 Issue, I’d like to celebrate our contributing writers whose work is a testament to their tenacity and devotion to this artform. The caliber of the work you’ll read in this issue doesn’t come easily or quickly. It takes time, commitment, and perseverance to create breathtaking poetry, stories that capture our imagination, and essays that connect us to something greater. To these writers, I bow with respect and admiration.
I am so grateful to this community and I look forward to seeing the work of more emerging and underrepresented writers in Solstice in the future.
Saludos,
Lorena Hernández Leonard
Lorena Hernández Leonard is a Latina writer born in Colombia whose work has been recognized in The Best American Essays Notable list, was a finalist for the PEN America Emerging Writer Fellowship and the CRAFT Creative Nonfiction Award. Her writing has appeared in KHÔRA, Tasteful Rude, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Pathfinders Collective, Solstice, and elsewhere. Lorena has received support for her memoir, “Salsipuedes: Leave if You Can,” about growing up during the Colombian drug war and her forced immigration to the U.S. (for which she is seeking publication) as a Pauline Scheer fellow at GrubStreet Creative Writing Center, and by the Juniper Writing Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Tin House, Vermont Studio Center, and Anaphora Arts. Her storytelling was featured on WORLD Channel and PBS’s program “Stories from the Stage,” and she is co-producer of the award-winning animated short film, “Demi’s Panic,” which was longlisted for the 94th OSCARS.
