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

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Winter 2021

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

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editors' Notes

  • Note from the Editor-in-Chief
    by Lee Hope and Ilan Mochari
  • Fiction Co-Editor’s Note
    by Anjali Mitter Duva and Lee Hope
  • Poetry Editor’s Note
    by Robbie Gamble
  • Reviews & Interviews Editor’s Note
    by Brenda Sparks Prescott
  • Poetry in Translation Editors’ Note
    by Barbara Siegel Carlson and Ewa Chrusciel
  • Nonfiction Editor’s Note
    by Richard Hoffman
  • Graphic Lit Editor’s Note
    by Andrai Whitted

Fiction

  • The Drama Room
    by Elizabeth Searle
  • The Traveler
    by Douglas Cole
  • Desserts on a Tray
    by Brenda Salinas Baker
  • This Mortal Coil
    by Angelo D'Amato
  • A Gift
    by Shamae Budd
  • The Way to the River
    by Nance Van Winckel
  • Something Resembling Faith
    by Benjamin Selesnick

Graphic Lit

  • Your Salt Mines
    by Angus Woodward
  • Make: A Graphic Poetic Sequence (Excerpt)
    by Ben Miller
  • Invincible (6 comics)
    by Belle (Bom) Kim

Nonfiction

  • Waiting for the Bees
    by Trisha M. Cowen
  • Figure Out the Damn Year
    by Dave King
  • More Money Than God: William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation 1620 -1647
    by Baron Wormser
  • Care and Keeping
    by Jen Dupree
  • Two Lives
    by Clara Bosak-Schroeder
  • If You Don’t Know Me by Now
    by Celeste Mohammed
  • The Price of Membership
    by Jane Shiau
  • The Seminarian and the Sex Worker
    by Lance F Mullins
  • Staff Feature
    That Night
    by Jill Frances Johnson
  • Staff Feature
    Plaque
    by Robbie Gamble

Photography

  • Menemsha Nights
    by Bob Avakian

Poetry

  • An Ice Cube is a Body
    by Rob Arnold
  • Pearl
    by Rob Arnold
  • In the Event of Thirst
    by Akhim Yuseff Cabey
  • I Walk into Every Room and Do Not Need to Yell Where the Nigerians At
    by Ayokunle Falomo
  • Laundry Quarters
    by Rebecca Faulkner
  • A Bud is Born
    by Emily Grodin
  • Soul in the Mortal Flesh
    by Emily Grodin
  • no crying over spilt
    by Kathleen Hellen
  • Opening the Casket
    by Toni Holland
  • Taps
    by Alexis Ivy
  • Cairns (I)
    by Philip Memmer
  • Crow Hop Elegy
    by Delaney R. Whitebird Olmo
  • Sahara Sand 20/20
    by Lisa Pegram
  • Mona Lisa
    by Lisa Pegram
  • Yellow Comes and Goes As It Pleases
    by Rikki Santer
  • sky burial
    by John Sibley Williams
  • Staff Feature
    History of (a Goldfinch’s) Madness
    by Ewa Chrusciel
  • Staff Feature
    The Hole
    by Richard Hoffman
  • Staff Feature
    The Fog is Adrift
    by Barbara Siegel Carlson

Poetry in translation

  • Four Poems by Małgorzata Lebda
    by Małgorzata Lebda and Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese
  • Two Poems by Astrid Cabral
    by Astrid Cabral and Alexis Levitin
  • Three Poems by Boris A. Novak
    by Boris A. Novak

Reviews & Interviews

  • Review
    Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Selected Poems by Susan Rich
    by Robbie Gamble
  • Interview
    How Memoirist Julia McKenzie Munemo Reckoned With Her Family’s Racist History
    by Melanie Brooks
  • Review
    Prosperity Gospel: Portraits of the Great Recession
    by Richard Hoffman


Contributors

Avatar photoAkhim Yuseff Cabey
Avatar photoAlexis Ivy
Avatar photoAlexis Levitin
Avatar photoAngelo D'Amato
Avatar photoAngus Woodward
Avatar photoAstrid Cabral
Avatar photoAyokunle Falomo
Avatar photoBaron Wormser
Avatar photoBelle (Bom) Kim
Avatar photoBen Miller
Avatar photoBenjamin Selesnick
Avatar photoBob Avakian
Avatar photoBoris A. Novak
Avatar photoBrenda Salinas Baker
Avatar photoCeleste Mohammed
Avatar photoClara Bosak-Schroeder
Avatar photoDave King
Avatar photoDelaney R. Whitebird Olmo
Avatar photoDouglas Cole
Elizabeth SearleElizabeth Searle
Avatar photoElżbieta Wójcik-Leese
Avatar photoEmily Grodin
Avatar photoJane Shiau
Avatar photoJen Dupree
Avatar photoJill Frances Johnson
Avatar photoJohn Sibley Williams
Avatar photoKathleen Hellen
Avatar photoLance F Mullins
Avatar photoLisa Pegram
Avatar photoMałgorzata Lebda
Avatar photoMelanie Brooks
Avatar photoNance Van Winckel
Avatar photoPhilip Memmer
Avatar photoRebecca Faulkner
Richard HoffmanRichard Hoffman
Avatar photoRikki Santer
Avatar photoRob Arnold
Avatar photoRobbie Gamble
Avatar photoShamae Budd
Avatar photoToni Holland
Avatar photoTrisha M. Cowen

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We experiment.  We publish fine work, of course, from published established writers to emerging writers, whether formal or informal, traditional or experimental. We also publish underserved writers, or writers on the margins. We publish writers of diverse nationalities, races and religions, and also writers from diverse cultures within our culture.
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