BEST OF THE NET 2023; Essay in THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2018;
(cited in BAE 2015, 2016, 2020, 2022); PUSHCART poetry finalist

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Winter 2022 Print Issue

winter 2022 print issue

It’s with a superabundance of gratitude that Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices presents our annual print issue—our first since 2020, owing to last year’s pandemic-related hiatus. If you’re new to our literary journal, welcome: You’re about to enjoy a volume of words and images that reflect our values of championing marginalized voices and fighting oppression.

For fifteen years, Solstice has celebrated the diversity of ethnicities, races, ages, gender and sexual identities, religions, and socioeconomic classes—as well as neurodiversity. We’ve no intention of stopping now, and the proof is in these pages. Our Nonfiction section includes (among other work) a piece by Alysia Abbott on raising an autistic son; an essay by Russian-born poet A. Molotkov on the war in Ukraine; and Joy von Steiger’s timely and timeless piece about reproductive rights and the criminalization of the female body, beginning with her tenth great grandmother, Mary Dyer—the only woman hanged in 1660 on Boston Common as a religious activist.

The war in Ukraine is also a prevalent theme of our Poetry in Translation section—specifically, the poems of Yulia Berezhko-Kaminska and Olesya Mamchych, both of whom are Ukrainian war refugees.

War is also the subject of a piece in our Poetry section by Zibiquah Denny, a Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin and one of our Contributing Editors. Zibiquah, who is also an essayist, strives to tell stories that educate by writing from an indigenous perspective—and her poetry is no exception.

Of course, even in war-torn times, war is not the only subject matter of artistic expression. Our Poetry section also offers Edward Gunawan’s piece on falling in love as a “burgeoning queer kid” in the 90s and Brittany Adames’ mouth-watering poem on mangú, a Dominican dish of mashed plantains.

Our Fiction section, as well as featuring a stunning selection of stories, includes two interviews with authors of note. Solstice founder and president Lee Hope sat down with Jabari Asim, who, on top of his two novels, has published a poetry volume, a collection of sixteen connected stories, three children’s books, and several nonfiction books. In addition, Solstice contributing editor Elizabeth Searle had a conversation with Ann Harleman—author of three novels and two short story collections, one of which, Happiness, which won the Iowa Short Fiction Award.

I encourage you to read the individual genre Editors’ Notes to learn much more about the writers and writing featured in this issue. Finally, I want to thank our dedicated editors for making this issue a reality. In Nonfiction, Richard Hoffman and Jill Frances Johnson; in Poetry in Translation, Barbara Siegel Carlson and Ewa Chrusciel; in Poetry, Robbie Gamble; in Fiction, Lee Hope and Anjali Mitter Duva; in photography, William Betcher; in Digital and Graphic Lit, Drai Whitted; also our Managing Editor Annaka Saari; and Erica Charis-Molling.

Ilan Mochari

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editors' Notes

  • Note from a Contributing Editor
    by Ilan Mochari
  • Poetry Editor’s Note
    by Robbie Gamble
  • Nonfiction Editor’s Note
    by Richard Hoffman
  • Poetry in Translation, Editors’ Note
    by Barbara Siegel Carlson and Ewa Chrusciel
  • Fiction Co-Editors’ Note
    by Lee Hope and Anjali Mitter Duva

Fiction

  • The Most Intimate Thing
    by Ann Harleman
  • A Journey Through the Universe
    by Kent Nelson
  • Pink Novel
    by Sylvan Lebrun
  • The Motherless Daze
    by Val Wang
  • Excerpt from Between Light and Earth
    by Anjali Mitter Duva

Nonfiction

  • Ten Takes on Ecology and Justice
    by Alison Hawthorne Deming
  • 247
    by Corinne Pines
  • My Putin Failure
    by A. Molotkov
  • Liza in 17 Fragments
    by Kristen Paulson-Nguyen
  • Beautiful Boy
    by Alysia Abbott
  • Detonation
    by Bridget Verhaaren
  • Two Eternities
    by Steven Harvey
  • Our Bodies Were Never Our Own
    by Joy Von Steiger
  • Luddites and the Next Frontier
    by Amy Burroughs
  • Backtalk and Backlash
    by Richard Hoffman

Poetry

  • Speaking of Love 谈情说爱
    by Edward Gunawan
  • Cold Turnpikes
    by Clarissa Adkins
  • I’m Sorry I’ve Shut You Out &
    by Shannon Elizabeth Hardwick
  • Poem Against the Rich
    by Daniel Lawless
  • War Torn History
    by Zibiquah Denny
  • Mangu
    by Brittany Adames
  • Wading
    by Christine Jones
  • Self-Portrait of a Boy Pretending to Be a Boy
    by Jory Mickelson
  • Renunciation of Death
    by Sara Dallmayr
  • I HAVE COME TO RESCUE YOU
    by Aïcha Martine Thiam
  • Many Jagged Stones
    by Jennifer Leblanc
  • The Angel and the Philosopher
    by George Franklin
  • Narrow Valley
    by Dara-lyn Shrager
  • The Bones
    by David P. Miller
  • Burn My Fear
    by Cammy Thomas

Poetry in translation

  • Ganges
    by Elsa Cross and Susan Ayres
  • Two Poems
    by Mirabai and Chloe Martinez
  • Three Poems
    by Yulia Berezhko-Kaminska
  • Two Poems
    by Olesya Mamchych and Christine Eliashevsky Chraibi

Reviews & Interviews

  • Interview with Ann Harleman
    by Elizabeth Searle
  • Interview with Jabari Asim
    by Lee Hope
  • Unceded Land by Issam Zineh
    by Erica Charis-Molling
  • Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha
    by Robbie Gamble


Contributors

Avatar photoA. Molotkov
Avatar photoAïcha Martine Thiam
Avatar photoAlison Hawthorne Deming
Avatar photoAlysia Abbott
Avatar photoAmy Burroughs
Avatar photoAndrew Sheppard
Avatar photoAnjali Mitter Duva
Avatar photoAnn Harleman
Avatar photoBridget Verhaaren
avatar for Brittany AdamesBrittany Adames
Avatar photoCammy Thomas
Avatar photoChloe Martinez
Avatar photoChristine Eliashevsky Chraibi
Avatar photoChristine Jones
Avatar photoClarissa Adkins
avatar for Corinne PinesCorinne Pines
Avatar photoDaniel Lawless
Avatar photoDara-lyn Shrager
Avatar photoDavid P. Miller
Avatar photoEdward Gunawan
Elizabeth SearleElizabeth Searle
Avatar photoElsa Cross
avatar for Erica Charis-MollingErica Charis-Molling
Avatar photoGeorge Franklin
Avatar photoJabari Asim
Avatar photoJennifer Leblanc
Avatar photoJory Mickelson
Avatar photoJoy Von Steiger
Avatar photoKent Nelson
Avatar photoKristen Paulson-Nguyen
Lee HopeLee Hope
avatar for MirabaiMirabai
Avatar photoOlesya Mamchych
Richard HoffmanRichard Hoffman
Avatar photoRobbie Gamble
Avatar photoSara Dallmayr
Avatar photoShannon Elizabeth Hardwick
Avatar photoSteven Harvey
Avatar photoSusan Ayres
Avatar photoSylvan Lebrun
Avatar photoVal Wang
Avatar photoYulia Berezhko-Kaminska
Avatar photoZibiquah Denny

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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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