OPENING LETTERS > FROM THE EDITORS
Sky Island Journal hails from the borderlands of southwestern New Mexico, where the desert meets the mountains and the indigenous meets the exotic.
Each spring morning, the mountains above our ranch drape themselves in an explosion of poppies. The yolk-orange blooms are tousled in rhythmic waves by winds that rush down from the peaks and splay out across the desert floor, eventually slowing to a hush, like the breathless space between a lover’s lips.
Each spring evening, ocotillos—taller than any man—snake toward the sky at sunset, their spiny necks and blood red buds defying gravity to commune with the stars in a way that only the Apache can properly articulate.
This landscape—in this season—is a constant reminder that renewal and resilience are both made possible by hope.
And if we’ve learned anything over the last 8 years, it’s that hope’s weapon of choice is always art.
In our case, art is literature, and our work on this journal always reminds us of just how resilient language makes the human animal. Language gives us the power to resurrect our past, define our present, and create our future. Language is the sword and compass of the human imagination. The collective work of our contributors provides us with a portal through which we may step, and choosing to do so allows us to live beyond the limits of our corporeal experience. Choosing to do so reveals our capacity for renewal. Choosing to do so gives us hope.
With every issue, Sky Island Journal reminds us that hope favors the brave, and our contributors in Issue 31 are as fearless as they come.
We believe in the power of reading and writing, and we believe that art can make a difference in people’s lives. In turn, our constellation of over 150,000 readers in 150 countries, and our family of over 1,000 published writers hailing from 54 countries, believe in the healing potential of our shared humanity in this space. New perspectives can make a difference. Empathy can make a difference.
We keep a fire burning for readers and writers who may be discouraged by this life or doubting their path. We keep it burning for those who, through literature, want to break free from their matrix programming and feel things they’ve never felt before—see things from different perspectives and be completely transported by the hearts and minds of others. By keeping the fire burning for others, we are also able to provide some warmth and light for ourselves, and it will always be enough to sustain and guide us to the next issue. Path and purpose. Relentless resilience. Endless evolution. Reading and responding to every submission—then being able to share the work of writers from around the world, with readers from around the world—are privileges beyond the telling.
We’ve elected to leave the "scroll-through” experience and the pop-up ads to other literary platforms. By design, each piece of writing in Sky Island Journal opens as a protected Word document for an authentic, focused, and immersive experience that encourages a close, intimate, distraction-free reading of the work. We want your experience with the work of our contributors to be singular—just as it would be on the printed page, with crisp white paper between your collective fingertips. If your last experience with an online lit mag felt more like Tinder-swiping than reading, we offer a refreshing change of pace—one that encourages you to slow down a bit and be fully present. It should be noted that several poems in this issue with unusually long line lengths will open as JPEGs so fidelity to the author’s original line and stanza breaks can be maintained on all mobile devices around the world.
Without advertising to distract from and cheapen the literary experience, you can fully engage with the worlds that our contributors have so carefully crafted for you. Without subscriptions and paywalls, you are welcome to read and enjoy whenever you like, wherever you like, regardless of your means. We believe in removing the barriers between readers and access to high quality literature, especially in regions of the world that have traditionally been underserved by English language journals or completely ignored by the literary establishment.
As a truly independent publication, we are not beholden to the politics or agendas of institutions that provide funding conditional on content; we are not beholden to advertisers who coerce editorial decisions by threatening to withhold ad revenue, and we are neither beholden to the groupthink of crowd funding, nor the fragility of grant funding, nor the fickle patronage of subscribers. The result? Freedom.
And in a space where we have the freedom to choose anything, we will always choose hope. It makes renewal and resilience possible—for all of us.
So, welcome to Sky Island Journal. Of the 2,140 individual pieces that we received from around the world for Issue 31, we found these 51 to be the most powerful. Enjoy.
Respectfully,
Jason Splichal, Co-Founder and Co-Editor
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to visit Scotland for nearly two weeks. My wife and I were on vacation, traveling with two of our best friends, and it was our first time experiencing this beautiful country. Equipped with the freedom of a rental car, we could move from city to city and stretch into the countryside, opening up options for daily excursions. Other than hotel reservations, we had a bit of a loose itinerary, where each of us added 1-2 "must-have" destinations.
Unsurprisingly, at the top of my list was the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh. On the very first day in town, we visited the location, which welcomes visitors and artists to engage in live performances that preserve the rich history of traditional folktales and mythology, as well as music, theatre, and art exhibitions. On their website, they summarize their ethos with a Scottish proverb: "The story is told eye to eye, mind to mind, and heart to heart." Thousands of miles away from my own rooftop, I felt right at home.
For my fellow Shakespeare fans, our visit to Cawdor Castle, the home of the 11th Century historical King Macbeth, and Inverness Castle, the fictional home where Macbeth and Lady M carry out their foul deeds to gain the throne in the Bard's play, were also key highlights.
The flexibility in the itinerary made it possible to adjust quickly, which we did on our day trip near Fort William. In the distance, we could see the towering beauty of Ben Nevis, Scotland's largest mountain. We did not have 7-9 hours to make the full hike to the summit, but with unseasonably warm and sunny weather, we made a last-minute decision to ride a gondola as high as it would take us. From there, we enjoyed a mile-long hike to take in the stunning views, looking down onto Fort William and miles upon miles of the Grampian Mountain range in the northwest Highlands. (If I had half the photography skills Jason possesses, that landscape might have graced the cover of this Sky Island Journal issue.)
The experience at Ben Nevis ended up being the #1 highlight of my entire trip. What strikes me upon reflection is that it came totally by surprise. It was not on the initial list of must-haves or non-negotiable stops, but a truly breathtaking and unforgettable experience.
Readers, as you experience Issue 31 of Sky Island Journal, you may have your own planned destinations in mind. Perhaps a friend, colleague, or family member encouraged you to read the piece they have featured in this issue. Absolutely! Take in that "must-have" on your list for visiting us here. Think, feel, and be alive as the words fill your mind and hearts. We're so glad you've joined us!
And since you're here, I encourage you to linger, allowing your itinerary to stay loose and flexible. You don't need to devote 7-9 hours, since a new world of possibility and wonder can be found with just one click of an orange button, with some of the finest poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction waiting for you on the other side. Who knows, you might be taken completely by surprise, with a new highlight that takes your breath away or sticks with you -- your own Ben Nevis experience through literature.
Thank you for being here, and for opening your mind and heart to experience the worlds our tremendous contributors have created for you. Enjoy!
Respectfully,
Jeff Sommerfeld, Co-Founder and Co-Editor
Amy Allen > Flash Fiction > Vermont, USA
Amy Allen is a Vermont based writer whose poetry and fiction has been published in a variety of literary journals. Her poetry chapbook, Mountain Offerings, was released in April of 2024. She is thankful to live in an area where she is surrounded by mountains, water, and wildlife, as the natural world provides great inspiration for her written work as well as her internal well-being. She owns All of the Write Words, a freelance writing/editing business and currently serves as her town’s Poet Laureate, a position that includes outreach work with local schools and organizations.
Andrea Aldrete > Poetry > Texas, USA
Andrea Aldrete is a published author from a small Texas border town where she savors every bit of her rich Hispanic culture. Her work has appeared in Humana Obscura, Prosetrics: The Literary Magazine, Querencia Press, Anti-Heroin Chic, and Wild Roof Journal, as well as her own poetry collections: The Muse is Sleeping and The Muse is Awake. She is a mother of two small children, and a wife to an incredible husband. She is a recovering alcoholic who lives a sober life creating beautiful, meaningful memories.
AR Manu > Creative Nonfiction > Virginia, USA
AR Manu is a Samoan-American graduate student at Old Dominion University. When she is not working, studying, or writing, she is spending time with her family. Sky Island Journal is her first publication.
Ava Loomar > Poetry > Georgia, USA
Ava Loomar is a Jewish, bisexual writer and award-winning journalist. Born and raised in South Florida, she's now based in Atlanta, producing daytime shows with CNN International. Her previous poetry has appeared in Wussy Magazine and Atrium Magazine, with upcoming poetry in Dusty Attic Publishing. You can find Ava on instagram @whosava or on various sunlit patios eating oysters.
Beth Gordon > Poetry > North Carolina, USA
Beth Gordon is a poet, mother and grandmother living in Asheville, NC. She is the author of several chapbooks including The Water Cycle (Variant Literature), How to Keep Things Alive (Split Rock Press) Crone (Louisiana Literature) and The First Day (Belle Point Press). Beth is Managing Editor of Feral: A Journal of Poetry and Art, Assistant Editor of Animal Heart Press, and Grandma of Femme Salve Books. Instagram, Threads and BlueSky @bethgordonpoet.
Bri Kelly > Poetry > New York, USA
Bri Kelly is a writer and artist based in Harlem, New York, and a wanderer, having traveled Europe and America. Currently teaching and exploring in Central Asia, they are thrilled to have their work featured in Sky Island Journal, one of their first publications. They are completing an illustrated book of poetry and also at work on a novel in short stories.
Christine Arroyo > Flash Fiction > New York, USA
Christine Arroyo's work has been published in X-R-A-Y Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, Dark Recesses Press, Beyond Words, Burningword Literary Journal and Variety Pack, to name a few. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, the Best of the Net, and in the 2023 Best Microfiction Anthology. She has just completed her first novel about siblings navigating an increasingly warming world.
Courtney Hitson > Poetry > Florida, USA
Courtney Hitson teaches English through the College of the Florida Keys. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals including Wisconsin Review, DMQ Review, Emerge Literary Journal, McNeese Review, Sky Island Journal, and others. She currently has work forthcoming in Potomac Review, Eastern Iowa Review, and Euonia. Outside of writing, she enjoys drawing, freestyle unicycling, and learning history. Courtney and her husband, Tom (also a poet), reside in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with their two cats.
Denise David > Creative Nonfiction > New York, USA
Denise David has published creative nonfiction and poetry in journals such as Persimmon Tree, Halfway Down the Stairs, and Willows Wept Review as well as published a book of poetry entitled, Against Forgetting: War, Love, and After War (Shanti Arts Press, 2002), which is a collection of narrative and persona poems that grew from her research and interviews with war brides of World War II, giving voice to one of the largest migrations of women in history. Denise is a teacher, writer, and scholar as well as a wife, mother, and grandmother. But before any of that, she was born the daughter of a British War Bride.
Elan Mccallum > Poetry > Wisconsin, USA
Elan Mccallum is a Filipina American writer whose work has been published in Barstow & Grand and now Sky Island Journal. She has collaborated with E Dance Company and Dotters Books, and she has read her work in the Chippewa Valley's Sound and Stories Series, the Snapshot Series, the River Prairie Cultural Festival, the River Prairie Festival Celebration of Art, and Wisconsin Poetry & Pi(e).
Elly Katz > Poetry > New York, USA
At 27, verging towards a doctorate at Harvard, Elly Katz went for a mundane procedure to stabilize her neck. Somehow, she survived what doctors surmised was unsurvivable: a brainstem stroke secondary to a physician’s needle misplacement. In the wake of the tragedy, she discovered the power of dictation and the bounty of metaphor. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in the Stardust Review, the Sacramento Literary Review, the Amsterdam Review, Sky Island Journal, and many others and has won many prizes, including first place for the 2025 Yeats Poetry Prize, judged by January Gill O'Neil. Her first collection of creative nonfiction, From Scientist to Stroke Survivor: Life Redacted from Lived Places Publishing became an Amazon best-seller in its first week, reaching #1 in four categories. Her first collection of poetry, Instructions for Selling-Off Grief, is forthcoming from Kelsay Books (2025). She is enrolled in the MFA program at Queens College.
Jennifer Markell > Poetry > Massachusetts, USA
Jennifer Markell’s first poetry collection, Samsara, (Turning Point, 2014) was named a "Must Read" by the Massachusetts Book Awards. Her second collection, Singing at High Altitude, was published in 2022 by The Main Street Rag. She has received awards from the Chester H. Jones Foundation, The Comstock Review, The New England Poetry Club, and the Rita Dove Prize for women writers, Salem College. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous journals, including The Bitter Oleander, Cutthroat, Diode, The MacGuffin, RHINO, Storm Cellar, and The Women's Review of Books. In her work as a psychotherapist and writer, she believes in the power of words to help us feel what we feel and know what we know.
Jennifer Mitchell > Flash Fiction > California, USA
Born in Brazil to Anglo-Argentine parents, Jennifer Mitchell lived in Argentina, Mexico, and Costa Rica before completing high school and university in Brazil. She's published in several trade journals, including the SOS Climate Supplement for Newsweek, and was a columnist for the Brazilian environmental journalism site Oeco.com.br. A member of SCBWI, her work has been published in Cricket Magazine. Currently, Jennifer is editing a YA work on deforestation in the Amazon and researching her next YA project on ocean health. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and very large dog.
Jessica Knuth > Poetry > Turkey + Virginia, USA
Jessica Knuth is the author of Homeplace, a forthcoming memoir. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in The Manifest-Station and BLVDS. She currently lives abroad in Istanbul, Turkey, but she is—and always will be—a Kentucky girl at heart.
Jose Oseguera > Poetry > California, USA
Jose Oseguera is an LA-based writer of poetry, short fiction and literary nonfiction. His writing has been featured in Chautauqua, North Dakota Quarterly, Catamaran, and Sky Island Journal. His work has also won the Nancy Dew Taylor Award, placed 2nd in the 2020 Hal Prize Contest and been nominated for the Best of the Net, Pushcart and Forward Prizes. He is the author of the poetry collections The Milk of Your Blood (2021) as well as And This House is Only a Nest (2024).
Katey Linskey > Poetry > Washington, USA
Katey Linskey (she/her) is a writer with work out and forthcoming in Blue Mesa Review, The West Review, Emerson Review, The McNeese Review, Contemporary Verse 2, Cobra Milk and elsewhere. She was a finalist in the Toad Hall Editions 2024 Chapbook Contest. She spent ten years working in public health which continues to inform her work as a writer.
Kathleen McTigue > Poetry > Massachusetts, USA
Kathleen McTigue is a Unitarian Universalist minister who worked in parish settings and human rights programs for 35 years. Now retired, she studies and writes poetry and accompanies Spanish-speaking migrants through the asylum process. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Split Rock Review, Yellow Arrow, and Quartet Journal, and a collection of poems and short essays, Shine and Shadow, was published in 2012 by Skinner House Books. She lives with her husband in Boston, Massachusetts.
Lailah Shima > Poetry > Wisconsin, USA
Lailah Shima is a death doula who writes and walks among the lakes of Wisconsin. Her poetry has appeared in such journals as CALYX, Terrain, Buddhist Poetry Review, and Anti-Heroin Chic, as well as in The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy (ed. James Crews). She is an MFA candidate at Pacific University.
Larry Daane > Flash Fiction > Oregon, USA
The works of Larry Daane deal with the collision of science, politics, and people. His novel, Targeted, explores a form of mind control. His shorter works focus on mind-bending events and situations that may never come to pass yet say much about the human condition. Working from Portland, Oregon, he finds inspiration in the fog, the rain, and welcome bursts of sunshine that reveal plants budding even in the dead of winter.
Laurie Dainer > Creative Nonfiction > California, USA
Laurie Dainer lives on a ranch in northern California with her dog, three horses, and four cats. She is a graduate student in the MFA Nonfiction program at Saint Mary's College and is writing a memoir about her life in the Canadian Northwest Territories. Her work has been published in Ursa Minor and Rockvale Review.
Laurie McKean > Poetry > Arizona, USA
After receiving an M.S. in ecology and evolutionary biology, Laurie McKean worked as an environmental biologist and bio-archaeologist (researched bone material from archaeological sites at the Florida State Museum and University of Arizona) then studied toward a PhD in biology. She later received an M.A. in Special Ed and taught for eleven years teaching a myriad of subjects in a school within a psychiatric hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2006, Laurie moved to Prescott, Arizona and began making welded steel sculpture ( www.lauriemckean.com). Experiences in biology and art frequently work their way into her poetry.
Leonore Hildebrandt > Poetry > New Mexico, USA
Leonore Hildebrandt is the author of the poetry collections The Work at Hand, The Next Unknown, and Where You Happen to Be. Her poems and translations appeared in the Cafe Review, Cerise Press, Cimarron Review, Denver Quarterly, Harpur Palate, Sky Island Journal, The Main Street Rag, New Letters, Poetry Salzburg Review, Rhino, and Sugar House Review among other journals. Nominated several times for a Pushcart Prize, she was a finalist for the Maine Writers and Publishers Award in Poetry in 2024. Originally from Germany, Leonore spends her time in Harrington, Maine and Silver City, New Mexico.
Liana Keene > Poetry > New Mexico, USA
Liana Keene is a blossoming poet and student from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her poetry is featured in CNM’s Spring of 2025 literary magazine, Leonardo. She works as a medical scribe, which involves a lot of writing and interpreting conversations that happen in real time. She was raised on the east coast and holds a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts, concentrating in painting. She is deeply fascinated by the natural world, and the mountains are her favorite literary muse.
M.K. Thekkumkattil > Poetry > Alaska, USA
M.K. Thekkumkattil (they/them) is a trans disabled kinky writer and nurse whose liberation is bound up with Palestinian Liberation. They received a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award and fellowships from Queer Art Mentorship, Lambda Literary, VONA, and Writing by Writers. Their work can be found in Autostraddle, Fence Magazine, Year Round Queer, In the Future There Are No Hospitals, and @thekkumkattilmk.
Maleeha Farooq > Poetry > Canada
Maleeha Farooq is a writer from Toronto, Canada. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Queen's Quarterly, Contemporary Verse 2, and Sky Island Journal. She is always on the lookout for good sushi and fluffy cardigans. She can be found on Instagram @maleehaslibrary.
Marium Qadir > Creative Nonfiction > Canada
Marium Qadir is a Pakistani-Canadian writer based in Ontario, Canada. She explores the liminal spaces between language, identity, and belonging—drawn to what lives in the pause, the edge, the in-between. Introspective by nature, she documents her reflections through an independent blog and a growing body of visual work. Her creative life is rooted in simplicity: long walks in forests, deep community, and the quiet observation of the spaces between words. This is her first publication.
Nicole Dufalla > Poetry > Virginia, USA
Nicole Dufalla teaches engineering in Virginia where she enjoys writing and getting lost outside. Her poetry can be found or is forthcoming in the Chautauqua Journal, the Willows Wept Review, Poetry South, and elsewhere online.
Piet Nieuwland > Poetry > New Zealand
Piet Nieuwland lives in Whangarei, New Zealand. His poems and flash fiction appear in print and online journals and exhibitions including Bonsai, Geometry, Brief, Catalyst, 52250 Anthology Cluster of Lights, and PAV deconstructed in New Zealand; Pure Slush, Otoliths, and Cordite in Australia; Blue Fifth Review, Mojave River Review, Sky Island Journal, and Atlanta Review in the USA; Live Encounters in Indonesia, and Taj Mahal Review in India. His poem, “The Melting Sky,” appears in the inaugural Antarctic Poetry Exhibition. His two recent books, As light into water and We enter the, are published by Cyberwit. He edits Fast Fibres Poetry and reviews poetry for Landfall.
Rachel Beachy > Poetry > Kentucky, USA
Rachel Beachy lives in Kentucky with her husband and children. Her poems have appeared in Ephemera, Freshwater, The Orchards Poetry Journal, The Rising Phoenix Review, Steam Ticket and others. Her debut collection Tiny Universe will be published by Kelsay Books.
Rory Perkins > Flash Fiction > United Kingdom
Rory Perkins is a British writer focusing on shorter works. He has been published in Vast Literary Press, SoFloPoJo, Passengers Journal, and Artam's The Face Project (forthcoming), and has a chapbook, If It Wasn't Too Late, out now with Alien Buddha Press. He can be found at @rperkinswriter on Bluesky.
Susan J. Hudson > Flash Fiction > North Carolina, USA
Susan J. Hudson is a former journalist who now does communications for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her short fiction has been published by Half and One, The Write Launch, and Hoxie Gorge Review. She is currently working on a historical novel set in colonial Virginia.
Svetlana Litvinchuk > Poetry > Missouri, USA
Svetlana Litvinchuk graduated from University of New Mexico. She is the author of a debut poetry chapbook, Only a Season (Bottlecap Features, 2024). Her work has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net. Her poetry has appeared in Sky Island Journal, Apple Valley Review, Jet Fuel Review, About Place, Plant-Human Quarterly, ONE ART, and elsewhere. Originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, she now lives in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She is the reviews editor with ONLY POEMS. She plants a garden everywhere she goes.
Tawnya Gibson > Creative Nonfiction > Utah, USA
Tawnya Gibson is a freelance writer who grew up in the high desert of southwest New Mexico. Her work has appeared in TODAY online, Newsweek, Zibby Mag, Under the Gum Tree, Sky Island Journal, and Blue Mountain Review (among others), and she was a longtime contributor to Utah Public Radio and currently writes a Substack newsletter called Off the Record. She currently lives and works in the mountains of Northern Utah, and while she has been gone for more years than not, her New Mexican roots still bleed through her work and are the basis for a book of essays she’s constantly working toward.
Valerie Braylovskiy > Poetry > California, USA
Valerie Braylovskiy is a poet from the Bay Area and the author of Half-Life, a chapbook by Alien Buddha Press. As a Canterbury Scholar at Santa Clara University, she is currently developing a poetry manuscript exploring chronic illness and womanhood. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in places like Beaver Magazine, Santa Clara Review, and ONE ART.