Today’s post is written by Laura McCullough. We published her poem “Across Which the World” in our Fall 2016 issue. It’s hard to discuss my own work. I think if I could say what I needed to say in another form, I would. A poem is what I write because I can’t say something any other […]
The Story Behind “Shepherding” by Michael Overa
February 23, 2017
Today’s post is written by Michael Overa. We published his short story “Shepherding” in our Fall 2016 issue. Memory has always struck me as a rather tenuous thing. Even the healthiest minds muddle and jumble and transpose memories. Inevitably, I struggle with the idea of memory primarily because of my own love-hate relationship with it. I’ve no […]
The Story Behind ‘Love Letters’ by Mary Leonard
January 31, 2017
Today’s post is written by Mary Leonard. We published her flash fiction “Love Letters” in our Fall 2016 issue. Really, “Love Letters” is based on true experiences: the toilet would not flush, a mouse would visit every night, the air conditioning could not be regulated. I never did meet any of the employees of the Physical Plant but […]
The Story Behind “Two Poems” by Lynn Otto
January 5, 2017
Today’s post is written by Lynn Otto. We published her poems “Marcescence” and “And After” in our Fall 2016 issue. When my friend Dave read someone’s claim that it’s impossible to write any more good poems about the moon, he wrote a poem about the moon. Someone has probably said something similar about trees. But I […]
The Story Behind “The Unfaithful Triptych” by Monet Thomas
December 12, 2016
Today’s post is written by Monet Thomas. We published her creative nonfiction piece “The Unfaithful Triptych” in our Fall 2016 issue. “The Unfaithful Triptych” is one of several pieces I’ve written styled after a triptych or three pieces of art, usually paintings or photography, hung beside each other and meant to be appreciated together. It was during […]
The Story Behind “Super Summer Spectacular” by Anthony J. Mohr
August 15, 2016
Today’s post is written by Anthony J. Mohr. His essay “Super Summer Spectacular” appears in our Spring 2016 issue. For several years I’d been trying unsuccessfully to build an essay based on the wild contests that AM radio disc jockeys sponsored in Los Angeles between 1959 and 1970. I had so much to say, or so I thought. […]
The Story Behind “Perfect Child” by Melissa Ballard
July 27, 2016
Today’s post is written by Melissa Ballard. Her essay “Perfect Child” appears in our Spring 2016 issue. In 2011, I drafted a poem about the “I choose ‘zis” scene in “Perfect Child.” But my poems are prose with random line breaks, so I abandoned that effort. During the summer of 2012, I took a class with […]
The Story Behind “Big Alabama and the Danforth Avenue Gang” by James Valvis
June 30, 2016
Today’s post is written by James Valvis. We published his short story “Big Alabama and the Danforth Avenue Gang” in our Spring 2016 issue. Charles Bukowski was in his declining years when, after years of snubbing him, they chose one of his poems for Best American Poetry. When they finally took that poem, they asked […]
The Story Behind “What My Premature Birth Taught Me About Writing” by Dallas Woodburn
June 6, 2016
Today’s post is written by Dallas Woodburn. Her essay “What My Premature Birth Taught Me About Writing” appears in our Spring 2016 issue. Being a “preemie” is an aspect of my identity that has shaped my life, and that I have been writing about in various ways for as long as I can remember. In middle […]
The Story Behind “Two Poems” by Rebecca Macijeski
May 19, 2016
Today’s post is written by Rebecca Macijeski. Her poems “Sonata for Water and Birds” and “Searching” appear in our Spring 2016 issue. “Sonata for Water and Birds” and “Searching” explore my fascination for what we can become in the gray area where opposing forces or energies overlap. The poems come from a book- length project that tries to […]
