Transitions, a special note from Lee Hope, Founding Editor-in-Chief
I am making a shift from Solstice Magazine, not an exit. I will continue to be president of the board of our Solstice Institute nonprofit and also serve as Fiction Co-editor. Transitions are passages in life, also grammatically between sentences; consequently, I am thrilled to present our new Editor-in-Chief, Ilan Mochari, who will bring his formidable energy and vision while also sharing our mission of promoting diversity, inclusion and equity, a mission which our magazine has fostered for almost fifteen years. Furthermore, Ilan deeply cares about moving our burgeoning, ever-growing magazine forward and extending our outreach to various diverse communities.
In addition, Ilan has a fine debut novel with a small press and many recent stories and poems published in top journals. With the beginning of the new year, he will officially segue into his role as EIC. I am deeply pleased to be collaborating/colluding with him. He is a literary force, an advocate for the marginalized and an expert at raising funds, which independent journals need to survive and flourish.
In addition, I wish to deeply thank again our fabulous editors, some of whom have been with us from the beginning: Richard Hoffman, Dzvinia Orlowsky, Betsy Sholl, and our other distinguished editors also key to our success: Robbie Gamble, Anjali Mitter Duva, Drai Whitted, Brenda Prescott, Barbara Siegel Carlson, Ewa Chrusciel, Jill Johnson, and our new Managing Editor, Megan LeDuke, in addition our contributing editors, and our diligent readers. We are a community of about thirty fabulous writers, most volunteers, working together in harmony to promote our cause.
Founding this magazine has been energizing, consuming, challenging, and deeply rewarding.
It has been my honor to serve writers as Editor-in-Chief, and it will continue to be in my new roles.
Welcome, Ilan! Onwards!
Lee Hope
Board president, Fiction Co-Editor
I’m thankful for the privilege and joy it will be to serve as the second Editor-in-Chief in Solstice’s history. Our mission will remain what it’s always been: to champion writers from historically marginalized and underrepresented communities. Our core belief is that literature and the arts are a home for justice and honesty—an aesthetic realm in which the platonic ideal is amusing an audience while prodding, provoking, and inspiring them to be their best selves. Artists, please know: Our doors are wide open. We’re itching to experience your work—and dedicated to growing a community in which all members can feel welcome, safe, and celebrated.
Ilan Mochari
Editor-in-Chief
Ilan Mochari’s Pushcart-nominated debut novel Zinsky the Obscure (Fomite, 2013) earned flattering reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly. His short stories, poems, and essays have been widely published, appearing or forthcoming in McSweeney’s, Hobart, J Journal, Valparaiso Fiction Review, and elsewhere.
Lee Hope, is the author of the novel Horsefever, a finalist in the Midwest Book Awards. She is a recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship, and a Maine Arts Commission Fellowship for Fiction. She has published stories in numerous literary journals such as Witness and The North American Review. She founded and directed a low-residency MFA program and has taught at various universities. She also teaches for Changing Lives Through Literature, which serves people on probation and parole.
