Dear Valued Readers,
First, a special announcement: We are thrilled to welcome Anjali Mitter Duva as Fiction Co-Editor. She is the author of the best-selling novel Faint Promise of Rain. Solstice Magazine has published two excerpts from her provocative novel-in-progress Between Light and Earth. Anjali is a co-founder of the Arlington Author Salon, a fabulous reading series in the Boston area, and is also a co-founder of Chhandika, a nonprofit that teaches and presents India’s classical storytelling kathak dance. As an American, raised in Paris, and of half Indian descent, Anjali brings a special lens to our diverse fiction choices. She is a force for the good.
Co-Editor’s Note: In this special Spring Issue we present pieces by writers of international backgrounds: born in Turkey to parents of Mongolian and Syrian descent, Sarp Sozdinier’s experimental debut enters Kafkaesque territory; Sadi Muktadir’s story of a Canadian immigrant depicts a “gentle human.” And Maria DeGuzman’s inspired prose poetry immerses us in impressions.
We also offer pieces concerned with gender identity, such as Sean Littlefield Chumley’s “The Young Gay Man’s Guide to Crying All the Time,” and Abby Provenzano’s story of two adolescent boys finding each other. Also, we offer stories of class diversity: Priscilla Long’s deeply humorous and deep-going tale of a collide between lower middle-class girls and the ultra-rich, and Gina Troisi’s story of restaurant workers and a suicide.
And then we include two thought-provoking tales of disastrous heterosexual love relationships from the distinguished authors Jaimee Wriston Colbert and Trudy Lewis.
We honor these fine writers as well as so many who submitted. Solstice Magazine has grown dramatically over the years and is increasingly taking a stand on anti-racism. Check out details in my Editor-in-Chief’s note. And please spread the news of this fine issue on your social media!
Peace,
Lee Hope
Fiction Co-Editor
Fiction Co-Editor’s Note from Anjali Mitter Duva
I am delighted to have joined Solstice Magazine as Fiction Co-Editor. I hadn’t realized just how much I needed this. In the double darkness of the pandemic and New England winter, reading through so many submissions of such high caliber was like stepping into a ray of light. What a joy to see so much strong writing pouring in, to be awed by the sheer number of people persevering, writing through the challenges of this past year. I imagined the writers in their various isolated corners of the world, their lamps and screens glowing in windows in a vast storybook building. Reading the pieces was a treat, a new chance at connection. I was struck in particular with the electric imagery of María DeGuzmán’s “Key of Lightning,” the tenderness of Abby Provenzano’s “By the Pricking of Thumbs,” the inventiveness of Sarp Sozdinler’s “Twice.” I’ve long appreciated the diversity of fiction pieces in Solstice, the way they reflect, each in its own way, the authors’ deep concern for some of the issues with which our society is grappling: race, class, identity, belonging, justice. It’s an honor to join the dedicated team behind the whole magazine.
With warm wishes,
Anjali Mitter Duva
Fiction Co-Editor
