Essay in THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2018;
(cited in BAE 2015, 2016, 2020); PUSHCART poetry finalist

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Spring 2020


Note from the Editor-in-Chief
Cover photo by Hakim Raquib

The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh said that the greatest gift to a loved one is your presence. We can be present even if isolated, as literature and art is present during this dark time of virus. We hope you will find presence in the inspired cover photograph Peace, Piece by Hakim Raquib and in the consolations and questionings of poetry, poetry-in-translation, nonfiction, and fiction. Such creativity draws us together.

Deepest thanks to the following writers and staff for this vital Spring Issue: Richard Hoffman, Nonfiction Editor; Robbie Gamble, Associate Poetry Editor; Barbara Siegel Carlson and Ewa Chrusciel, Editor and Associate Editor of Poetry-in-Translation; Dzvinia Orlowsky, Contributing Poetry Editor & Founder of Night Riffs; Andrai Whitted, Graphic Lit & Digital Editor; Olivia Thomes, Managing Editor; Amy Yelin and Cassandra Goldwater, Assistant Nonfiction Editors; Vanesa Pacheco, Social Media Manager; and to all our highly valued readers and contributing editors.

To learn about the authors and pieces in this issue, please see the individual Editor’s Notes for each genre.  Please share this issue with friends.  Please submit to our new Features/Blog and tell us your thoughts about the virus.  Also, please submit to our Annual Contest! In the eleven years of Solstice, we need more now than ever before to come together. A virtual community is a real one.  It has presence.

Please stay safe, Lee Hope

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editors' Notes

  • Fiction Editor’s Note
    by Lee Hope
  • Nonfiction Editor’s Note
    by Richard Hoffman
  • Poetry Editor’s Note
    by Robbie Gamble
  • Poetry in Translation Editor’s Note
    by Barbara Siegel Carlson and Ewa Chrusciel

Fiction

  • Expiring Candles
    by Jesus Francisco Sierra
  • Turn-off at Bargny
    by Tej Rae
  • Excerpt from Between Light and Earth
    by Anjali Mitter Duva
  • Taming Wild Things
    by April Bo Wang
  • The House at the End of the World
    by Michael Holtzman
  • Gridlock
    by Ellen Meeropol
  • The Cafeteria Strut
    by Alan Davis
  • No Crying
    by J.D. Scrimgeour

Nonfiction

  • Walden
    by Alicia Googins
  • Becoming Korean
    by Helena Rho
  • Deep Waters
    by Lisa Ohlen Harris
  • Winter Swans and the Assembly of God:
    A Landscape

    by Robert Stothart
  • Address
    by Bonnie Costello
  • Like the Movies
    by Elizabeth Foulke
  • Neither here nor there
    by JennyMae Kho

Photography

  • The “Gathering”
    by Hakim Raquib

Poetry

  • After the Burning
    by Jeff Friedman
  • Not Shadows
    by Huma Sheikh
  • Joachim
    by Harriet Levin
  • Your Word
    by Javy Awan
  • Cherries
    by Robert Carr
  • Glimpse of Stillness
    by Robert Carr
  • Oil Sheen
    by Marc Vincenz
  • Rez Town
    by Elizabeth Tornes
  • Expert of the Apricot Groves
    by Valerie Smith
  • The Fundamentals
    by John Zedolik
  • an open letter to my mixed little “Sisters Who Kept Their Naturals”
    by Matthew E. Henry (MEH)
  • Growing Up In The Cracks, Seedlings In The Streets
    by Esteban Ismael
  • Among the Rocks
    by Esteban Ismael
  • By the Way What Time Is It in Prague, Milena?
    by Michael Salcman
  • The Imaginary Death Certificate of Frida Kahlo
    by Sean Thomas Dougherty
  • What Bird Was That
    by Cindy Veach
  • NOLA
    by Jennifer Markell
  • Murmurations in the Ninth Hour
    by Abigail Warren
  • Listening to Lester Young in a Pandemic
    by Roy Bentley

Poetry in translation

  • An Interview by Dzvinia Orlowsky with Translators Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps of What We Live For, What We Die For, Selected Poems, by Serhiy Zhadan
    by Serhiy Zhadan, Wanda Phipps, Virlana Tkacz and Dzvinia Orlowsky
  • To wash clothes on a saturday afternoon
    Poem by Liliana Ancalao, Translated from Spanish by Seth Michelson

    by Liliana Ancalao and Seth Michelson
  • Mari Epu
    Poem by Jaime Huenún Villa,
    Translated from Spanish by Cynthia Steele

    by Jaime Huenún and Cynthia Steele
  • Two Poems by Yang Xiaobin
    Translated from Chinese by Canaan Morse

    by Yang Xiaobin and Canaan Morse


Contributors

Avatar photoAbigail Warren
Avatar photoAlan Davis
Avatar photoAlicia Googins
Avatar photoAnjali Mitter Duva
avatar for April Bo WangApril Bo Wang
Avatar photoBonnie Costello
Avatar photoCanaan Morse
Avatar photoCindy Veach
Avatar photoCynthia Steele
Avatar photoElizabeth Foulke
Avatar photoElizabeth Tornes
Avatar photoEllen Meeropol
Avatar photoEsteban Ismael
Avatar photoHakim Raquib
Avatar photoHarriet Levin
Avatar photoHelena Rho
Avatar photoHuma Sheikh
Avatar photoJ.D. Scrimgeour
Avatar photoJaime Huenún
Avatar photoJavy Awan
Avatar photoJeff Friedman
Avatar photoJennifer Markell
Avatar photoJennyMae Kho
Avatar photoJesus Francisco Sierra
Avatar photoJohn Zedolik
Avatar photoLiliana Ancalao
Avatar photoLisa Ohlen Harris
Avatar photoMarc Vincenz
Avatar photoMatthew E. Henry (MEH)
Avatar photoMichael Holtzman
Avatar photoMichael Salcman
Avatar photoRobert Carr
Avatar photoRobert Stothart
Avatar photoRoy Bentley
Avatar photoSean Thomas Dougherty
Avatar photoSerhiy Zhadan
Avatar photoSeth Michelson
Avatar photoTej Rae
Avatar photoValerie Smith
Avatar photoVirlana Tkacz
Avatar photoWanda Phipps
Avatar photoYang Xiaobin

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