OPENING LETTERS > FROM THE EDITORS
“Jane was in the hope business. She always said that not losing hope was key to staying in the fight. We live in a time when apathy is a poison pedaled by the darkness. They’re trying to make you feel disoriented and apathetic and scared. Fighting back against that—by having conviction and passion and hope—is the only way forward. She spent her whole life spreading that message: guarding her flame against the storm and tipping her candle to others to light them along the way.”
—Paul Rosalie (author of Junglekeeper: What it Takes to Change the World), on The Lex Fridman Podcast, discussing what we can learn about fighting destructive forces in the world by examining the selfless life of Jane Goodall.
To our friends fighting to gain their freedom in Iran and our friends fighting to not lose their freedom in Minnesota, USA—to all those fighting for the freedom to speak their minds, the freedom to receive an education, the freedom to love whom they choose, the freedom to determine the course of their own lives, and the freedom to defend those who cannot defend themselves—we say do not lose hope. Do not forget that writing is power.
Writing is power because it can provide hope. This is why, throughout history, tyrants have always come for the poets first; a populace is much easier to terrorize and subjugate without the flame of hope sustaining them.
Our contributor family—over 1,200 writers hailing from 58 countries—is fearless, and the contributors in Issue 34 are especially brave. Like Jane, they’ve spent their lives guarding their flames against the storm, and it is an honor to be the publication that allows them to tip their candles to others—like yours. May the light from your new flame, cupped in your palm, vanquish the darkness of tyranny, provide you with the warmth of perspective, and guide you safely down the rocky path of love. May your light become the light that others feel safe enough to follow.
We promise to keep Sky Island Journal’s flame burning for readers and writers who may be discouraged by this life or doubting their path. We promise to 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.
Art creates empathy. Empathy creates kindness. Kindness creates strength. This is our purpose, and we will not stop. This is our mission, and we will not fail.
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 bullshit 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. Thank you for being a star in our ever-growing constellation of readers: over 160,000 readers strong, in 150 countries.
As a truly independent publication, we are not beholden to the politics of governments or the 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—like Jane, Paul, Lex, and all our contributors in Issue 34—we will always choose hope.
Forward, together!
Respectfully,
Jason Splichal, Co-Founder and Co-Editor
While it is not the warmest place in the winter months, lately I've been spending a lot of time in the basement of my home. The task has been digging through boxes and totes full of books, picture albums, and miscellaneous items I've squirreled away for years. As my wife and my back often remind me, I also moved these boxes across the country multiple times over the past decade.
In 2014, while in graduate school, I took the StrengthsFinder Assessment from Gallup, which aims to focus attention on the natural talents and strengths of individuals to guide their development over time. Of the 34 Strengths in the assessment, Input was in my top five. According to Rath & Conchie (2008), "People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more...they like to collect and archive all kinds of information."
This is true of physical things as well, which brings me back to the basement and my wall of boxes. I've been sorting and organizing the contents to determine how I will utilize or display the items I choose to keep. The goal is tidiness and utility, with books and photo albums lined up on shelves so I can easily locate, use, and enjoy everything that makes the cut.
When I read or write, it is the same process; I need a clean and tidy space that allows me to focus on the task at hand. Organizing the top of my desk to remove unnecessary items or closing windows in my browser is often the first move. Similarly, choosing the information I gather—what to read, what to view, or what to listen to—has been an intentional sorting process these days. As Neil Postman foretold, technologies that become ubiquitous make it challenging to sort between fact and fiction, or what is of value for critical thinkers. I'm trying to pay more attention to my screen time, mitigating "doom scrolling" and resisting the algorithm that tries to amuse me with dopamine spikes. Learning, growing, and staying informed on my own terms is the goal.
For almost nine years now, Sky Island Journal has been the consistent place where I can focus and find the heart of the matter in this world. We hope to recreate that experience for you, partially by keeping your reading experience clean and tidy. By design, the 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. That said, some 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.
Of the 2,685 pieces we received from poets and writers around the world for Issue 34, we found these 79 to be the most powerful, and we've lined them up for you to fully explore one at a time.
We're so glad you're here, and hope you come back time and time again!
Respectfully,
Jeff Sommerfeld, Co-Founder and Co-Editor
Alina Kalontarov > Poetry > New York, USA
Alina Kalontarov is an educator, poet, and amateur photographer based in New York City. In both written and visual form, her work explores themes of duality, loss, emergence and the shifting relationship of self to home. Alina is committed to creative dialogue and collaborates on the editorial teams of various literary publications. She is a Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee with work that can be found or is forthcoming in ONLY POEMS, Sky Island Journal, Gather, Wildscape, Thimble, Sand Hills and elsewhere.
Allison Mei-Li > Poetry > California, USA
Allison Mei-Li is a poet, mother, and speech-language pathologist living in Southern California. She is the author of A History of Holding, a poetry collection that explores life through the lens of motherhood. When she’s not writing, she reads poetry submissions for The Turning Leaf Journal and designs tote bags and stickers for poets. Her work has appeared in anthologies, podcasts, and journals including Rust & Moth, MER Literary, Voicemail Poems, and Coffee + Crumbs, among others.
Annalise Parady > Poetry > Arizona, USA
Annalise Parady is a poet and a social worker. Born and raised in southwestern Wyoming, she now lives, writes, and grieves in the Sonoran Desert. Her work has previously been published by Sonora Review, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Corporeal Lit Mag, Gather, and more. Annalise would love to tell you about the flora and fauna of the desert she calls home. is a poet and a social worker. Born and raised in southwestern Wyoming, she now lives, writes, and grieves in the Sonoran Desert. Her work has previously been published by Sonora Review, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Corporeal Lit Mag, Gather, and more. Annalise would love to tell you about the flora and fauna of the desert she calls home.
Anne Ramallo > Poetry > California, USA
Anne Ramallo is a writer, editor, and mom living in Los Angeles, California. Her poetry and short fiction have been published in literary journals, zines, and anthologies and awarded in competitions by Reedsy, the Royal City Literary Arts Society, and Uncharted Magazine. She placed third in the national Pen Parentis 2026 Fellowship for parent writers. Anne is a co-founder of the micro press and creative collective Poets in the Pines, whose first anthology, Made from Midnight: a requiem, was released in 2025.
Athena Serbourne > Poetry > Canada
Athena Serbourne is a Métis poet from Ontario, Canada, and a BFA Creative Writing student at the University of British Columbia. She loves to explore themes of brilliant and striking nature intertwined with our experiences of love, grief, and intergenerational trauma. Her poems have been selected to appear in The Malahat Review, Queen’s Quarterly, Red Cedar Review, and Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature.
Bex Hainsworth > Poetry > United Kingdom
Bex Hainsworth is a poet and teacher based in Leicester, United Kingdom. She won the Collection HQ Prize as part of the East Riding Festival of Words, and her work has appeared in Nimrod, The McNeese Review, Sonora Review, and Columbia Journal. She is the author of two pamphlets: Walrussey (The Black Cat Poetry Press, 2023) and Circulaire (Written Off Publishing, 2025).
Bray McDonald > Poetry > New Mexico, USA
Bray McDonald finished a triple major degree in Environmental Issues from the University of South Alabama in 2000 where he studied poetry under Sue Brannan Walker and Walt Darring. He retired as Senior Educator at the Tennessee Aquarium and moved to Rio Rancho, New Mexico where he spends much of his time focused on writing. In the last few years, he has had multiple poems published in over one hundred journals and magazines in the U.S., Canada, Germany and England.
Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas > Poetry > California, USA
Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas is a recent graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in Writing. In 2012, her chapbook, Before I Go to Sleep, won the Red Ochre Press Chapbook Contest. In 2019, her chapbook, An Ode to Hope in the Midst of Pandemonium, was a finalist in the Eric Hoffer Book Award. In 2021, her collection, Alice in Ruby Slippers, was short-listed for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize and received honorable mention in the poetry category. She was recently awarded a certificate of achievement by the California Writers Club and named Centennial Poet for her contribution to their 100-year celebration. She has served as Editor-In-Chief for both The Orchards Poetry Journal and Tule Review. A thirteen-time Pushcart Prize nominee and seven-time Best of the Net nominee, she is a recent member of the Board of Directors for Women’s Wisdom Art in Sacramento and is currently working as an editor for Kelsay Books.
Christian Knoeller > Poetry > Indiana, USA
Christian Knoeller is Professor Emeritus of English at Purdue University and a past President of the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature. His first collection of poems, Completing the Circle from Buttonwood Press, was awarded the Millennium Prize. He is also author of Reimagining Environmental History, published by the University of Nevada Press, an ecocritical study tracing the trajectory of landscape change in Midwest as depicted in literature over the past two centuries. The poem first appearing in this issue, “Islands of Time,” is incorporated into his next collection, Time Signatures, forthcoming from Cornerstone Press at the University of Wisconsin in 2026.
Dara Goodale > Poetry > Switzerland
Dara Goodale (they/she) is a Romanian-American lesbian, poet, and university student living in Lausanne, Switzerland. Their work has appeared in the American Poetry Journal, Cleaver Magazine, Thimble Literary Magazine, and more. Dara was also a finalist for the Gasher Press 2025 Bennett Nieberg Transpoetic Broadsize Prize.
Dick Altman > Poetry > New Mexico, USA
Dick Altman writes in the thin, magical air of Old West’s high desert plains, where, at 7,000 feet, reality and imagination often blur. He is published in the American Journal of Poetry, Santa Fe Literary Review, Fredericksburg Literary Review, Foliate Oak, Landing Zone, Cathexis Northwest Press, Humana Obscura, Haunted Waters Press, Split Rock Review, The Ravens Perch, Beyond Words, New Verse News, Wingless Dreamer, Blueline, Sky Island Journal and others here and abroad. His work also appears in the first edition of The New Mexico Anthology of Poetry, published by the New Mexico Museum Press. Pushcart Prize nominee and poetry winner of Santa Fe New Mexican’s annual literary competition, he has authored some 280 poems, published on four continents.
Elda Oreto > Flash Fiction > Italy + Sweden
Elda Oreto is an Italian writer and art historian based in Stockholm, Sweden. Her writing has been nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net and appears in Sky Island Journal, About Place Journal, Gigantic Tentacles, Men Matters Online Journal, and other international publications. She is the author of Bright Nightmares and The Secret Lodge. Her current projects engage questions of identity, eros, and the archaeology of memory.
Elizabeth Rosen > Flash Fiction > Pennsylvania, USA
Elizabeth Rosen (she/her) is a native New Orleanian and a transplant to small-town Pennsylvania. She misses gulf oysters and Southern ghost stories but has become appreciative of snow and colorful scarves. Her stories have appeared in places such as North American Review, Baltimore Review, Pithead Chapel, Flash Frog, and New Flash Fiction Review. Colorwise, she’s an autumn. She still wants her MTV.
Filiz Fish > Poetry > California, USA
Filiz Fish is a student and writer from Los Angeles, California. An alumna of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, she has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the National Poetry Quarterly, and The New York Times. Her work appears or is forthcoming in The Adroit Journal, Gone Lawn Journal, and more. In her free time, she enjoys reading and listening to music.
Gabrielle Munslow > Poetry > United Kingdom
Gabrielle Munslow is a poet and nurse practitioner based in West Sussex, UK. Her work has appeared in The Ekphrastic Review, Neon Origami, Bristol Noir, the Wild Sound Writing Festival, and internal NHS publications, with new work forthcoming in Flash Phantoms and Half and One. She writes at the intersection of myth, grief, and defiance—often in the margins of a busy healthcare life.
Grace Crouthamel > Flash Fiction > Pennsylvania, USA
Grace Crouthamel is a queer writer from the coal-veined hills of Northern Appalachia. She studied literature at Bennington College, where she developed a fondness for strange stories. She shares her home with two mutinous dogs, a lizard, and a novella-in-progress.
Grace Lynn > Poetry > Massachusetts, USA
Grace Lynn is an emerging painter who lives with a chronic illness. Her work explores the intersections between faith, the natural world, art and the body. In her spare time, Grace enjoys listening to Bob Dylan, reading suspense novels and investigating absurd angles of art history.
Inez Chong > Poetry > Singapore + Australia
Inez Chong is a young Singaporean poet based in Brisbane, Australia. She is currently completing a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Queensland, where she pursues a double major in Writing and Journalism & Mass Communication. From the tender beginnings of online fanfiction to the rigors of IB Higher Level English Literature, she has long nurtured a love for storytelling. In 2023, she was awarded the UQ Ford Memorial Prize for her craft. Her work, published twice in Jacaranda Journal, explores the intricate landscape of human relationships through the lens of youthful curiosity. Inez hopes to continue blossoming as a writer, comforting as many hearts as her words can reach.
J.M.C. Kane > Flash Fiction > Louisiana, USA
J.M.C. Kane is an autistic writer from England, though now claimed by New Orleans, who has spent most of his adult life trying to fit long stories into short boxes. He has worked as a paperboy, a contracting executive, and an amateur cataloguer of human regret—none of which he was formally trained for. He was formally trained as a lawyer, but he is, frankly, a better cataloguer. His fiction has appeared in almost three-dozen journals that appreciate compression—and his willingness to obey word counts. Kane was shortlisted for the 2025 Letter Review Prize for Short-Fiction, shortlisted for 32nd Annual Robert J. DeMott Short Prose Contest (2025), longlisted for the L’Esprit Leopold Bloom Prize for Innovative Narration, and has recently been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. His most recent work, “After the Cut,” was published in Palisades Review in December 2025.
Jay Udall > Poetry > Virginia, USA
Jay Udall lives in northern Virginia with his spouse (Suzanne, a social worker and activist) and daughter (Rachel, a visual artist and banjo player extraordinaire), among assorted other animals. His work has appeared in many publications, including North American Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Prairie Schooner, Verse Daily, and Sky Island Journal. His sixth, latest book of poems, Because a Fire in Our Heads, won the 2017 X.J. Kennedy Poetry Prize.
Jessica Aure Pratt > Poetry > Utah, USA
Jessica Aure Pratt is a Utah based occupational therapist and poet, whose work often explores experiences with parenting, nature, social issues, and spirituality. She is published in Wildscape Lit Journal, Humana Obscura, and Planted Journal among many others. She received a BOTN nomination from Arcana Poetry Press in 2025.
Jillian Stacia > Poetry > Maryland, USA
Jillian Stacia is the author of the upcoming poetry collection, SET THE BONE, published by Arcana Poetry Press. She was selected as an Honorable Mention for the 2025 Jack McCarthy Book Prize and short-listed for the 2026 Central Avenue Poetry Prize. She has been nominated for several awards, including 2025 Best of Net and the 2025 Pushcart Prize. Her poetry has been featured in several literary magazines and anthologies.
Jocelyn Ajami > Poetry > Illinois, USA
Jocelyn Ajami is a painter, filmmaker and poet. As an artist with a global perspective, she turned to writing in 2014 as a way of connecting more intimately with issues of social conscience and cultural awareness. She has been published in many anthologies of prize winning poems and has been nominated for Touchstone and Pushcart awards. Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, she lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
John Muro > Poetry > Connecticut, USA
A four-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, a two-time nominee for the Best of the Net Award and a 2023 Grantchester Award recipient, John Muro is a life-long resident of Connecticut and a lover of all things chocolate. He has authored three volumes of poems – In the Lilac Hour (2020), Pastoral Suite (2022) and A Bountiful Silence (2025), and all three books are available on Amazon. John’s work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Acumen, the Belfast Review, Connecticut River, Grey Sparrow, River Heron, Sky Island Journal and the Valparaiso Review.
Katy Luxem > Poetry > Utah, USA
Katy Luxem lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her work is anthologized in Love Is For All Of Us (Hachette, 2025) and has appeared in Rattle, McSweeney’s, HAD, One Art, Rust & Moth, Sky Island Journal, and others. She is the author of Until It Is True (Kelsay Books, 2023).
Ken Malatesta > Creative Nonfiction > Illinois, USA
Ken Malatesta is a teacher and writer from Chicago. He lives in Skokie, Illinois, with his wife and three sons. His work has appeared in Bridge VIII, Oddball Magazine, Book XI, Chicago Quarterly Review, The Hopper, The Compressed Journal for Creative Arts, Fatherly, Goat’s Milk Magazine, and Motherwell Magazine. His essay “Puzzling Toward Oblivion” was named a Notable Essay of the Year by Best American Essays 2023.
Kiana McCrackin > Poetry > South Dakota, USA
Kiana McCrackin is a writer, a photographer (with a BFA from The Brooks Institute of Photography), a cloud gazer, and a mama. Kiana is eternally inspired by the emotions of the human experience and the landscapes she has called home: Alaska, California, and Washington. She currently resides in South Dakota where she is learning what the wind has to say and translating what the trees tell her.
Kristen Keckler > Poetry > New York, USA
Kristen Keckler’s happy place is any island in the sun. She received her PhD in English with a concentration in creative writing from the University of North Texas and currently teaches writing at Mercy University. Her fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in L’Esprit Literary Review, The Argyle, The Iowa Review, StorySouth, Vestal Review, The Boiler, Free State Review, and other journals. She finds inspiration in imagining literary characters of the past reincarnated in an age of digital communication, balancing a tightrope of connection and distance. She enjoys wandering around garage sales in the suburbs of New York City with her husband and son, on the lookout for unexpected treasures.
Kristen Reece > Flash Fiction > Canada
Kristen Reece is a Canadian writer who works in the oilfield. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee with work published or forthcoming in Bull, Miracle Monocle, Sky Island Journal, NUNUM, and elsewhere. When she's not writing or working, she spends her time plotting how to stay home long enough to get a cat.
Lin Fay > Creative Nonfiction > Taiwan + California, USA
Lin Fay writes between two worlds—Taiwan and Northern California—where language, memory, and belonging often intertwine. A bilingual author of fiction and creative nonfiction, she holds an MA in English Literature from California State University. Her Chinese story collection Voices Outside the Classroom ( 教室之外的聲音 ) and her work in Flash Fiction Magazine and Sky Island Journal explore love, loss, and the quiet resilience that endures within ordinary lives.
Marisha Kashyap > Poetry > California, USA
Marisha Kashyap is a corporate professional by day, an amateur poet by night. She is the co-author of Follow the Love: Permanent Connections Scaffolding, a book on best practices to improve child welfare practice in the U.S. She has also written & co-written white papers and manuscripts for publication in journals such as Harvard Public Health Review and Pediatrics Emergency. When not manning the desk, she’s busy co-chairing the philanthropy committee of her local volunteer club, reading non-fiction, going dancing with her friends, cooking, or writing poetry. This is her first time publishing her poetry for the world to see!
Michael Brookbank > Poetry > Kentucky, USA
Michael Brookbank is a poet inspired by Midwest Emo and science fiction. His work can be found online at Crow & Cross Keys, Bullshit Lit, and Eunoia Review.
Michael J. Galko > Poetry > Texas, USA
Michael J. Galko is a scientist and poet who lives and works in Houston, TX. He was a finalist in the 2020 Naugatuck River Review and the 2022 Bellevue Literary Review poetry contests. Recent poems have appeared or will appear in New Plains Review, Spillway Magazine, Hole in the Head Review, Atlanta Review, and Mockingheart Review, among other journals.
Morrow Dowdle > Poetry > North Carolina, USA
Morrow Dowdle is the author of the chapbook Hardly (Bottlecap Press, 2024) and the forthcoming chapbook Missing Woman. Their poems have been featured or are forthcoming in Rattle, New York Quarterly, Southeast Review, Stonecoast Review, Sky Island Journal, and The Baltimore Review, among other literary journals. They have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the 2024 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize. They run a performance series which features historically marginalized voices. A former physician assistant, they are now pursuing their creative writing MFA at Spalding University. They live in Durham, North Carolina.
Nicole Dalcourt > Poetry > Canada
Nicole Dalcourt is an award-winning Canadian poet and the author of What Remains. Dalcourt’s work has appeared in Writerly Magazine, Bangs Zine and King Mosaic. When not writing, Nicole hosts the online writing circle, Solace and The Portal. Her favorite colour is green.
Olga Khmara > Poetry > Belarus
Olga Khmara is a bilingual Belarusian poet and English linguist whose work explores the intersections of nature, memory, and resilience. Her poetry is forthcoming in Bird Life magazine.
Parineeta Habib > Poetry > India
Parineeta Habib is a poet whose work spans multiple emerging narrative forms. She is completing a poetry manuscript and drafting her first novel. Her writing moves between the languages of body, memory, and design. Alongside her literary work, she works in digital marketing, researches UX, and has led art workshops for children.
R.H. Booker > Poetry > Texas, USA
R.H. Booker graduated from Texas A&M University and served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. He now spends his time outdoors as a wildlife biologist. His poetry and prose have appeared (or are forthcoming) in the San Antonio Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Lucky Jefferson, Texas Poetry Assignment, and others.
Rachel Lauren Myers > Poetry > Massachusetts, USA
Rachel Lauren Myers is a poet from Reno, NV. Her work can be found or is forthcoming in Sarka, LampLit, Field Notes, Action, Spectacle, Ballast, Sky Island Journal, and elsewhere. She is a poetry editor for MEMEZINE. She recently relocated to Massachusetts, but her heart will always belong to Nevada, the desert, and big skies.
Rachel M. Hollis > Flash Fiction > California, USA
Rachel M. Hollis lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, child, and a deeply unmotivated dog. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Star 82 Review, Temple in a City, Blink-Ink (print) and elsewhere.
Rachel Mallalieu > Poetry > Maryland, USA
Rachel Mallalieu is an emergency physician and mother of five. She is the author of the chapbook A History of Resurrection (Alien Buddha Press 2022). Some of Rachel's recent work has been featured in Rattle, Chestnut Review, One Art, Whale Road Review and Pembroke Magazine.
Robin Zastrow > Poetry > Ohio, USA
Robin Zastrow is a poet whose work attends to memory, belief, and quiet interior worlds. She lives in Dayton, Ohio, writing toward moments of recognition and wonder.
Sheree Stewart Combs > Creative Nonfiction > Kentucky, USA
Sheree Stewart Combs is a writer and photographer who resides with her husband on a small farm in central Kentucky. She grew up in the Appalachian region of the state and often draws writing inspiration from time spent in the mountains she still calls home. She enjoys travel, flower gardening and Argentine Tango. Sheree’s nonfiction pieces have appeared in Still: the Journal, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Women Speak-Volume Ten, Kentucky Monthly Magazine, Heartwood Literary Magazine, 25 Tales – Even More Appalachian Ghost Stories and Mysteries, and Sugar Sugar Salt Magazine.
Susmita Mukherjee > Flash Fiction > India
Susmita Mukherjee is a Kolkata-based author whose fiction, screenplays, and poetry explore memory, silence, and the emotional undercurrents of everyday life. A former Army Public School teacher, she brings two decades of experience in hospitality and IT education to her writing. Her work appeared in Indian Literature(Sahitya Akademi), Kitaab, Literally Stories, BULL lit mag, Setu Magazine, Sabdodweep Web Magazine, Literary Yard, and Sky Island Journal, among others. Her debut poetry collection, When the Earth Sang of Us, is now available on various platforms worldwide.
Wasima Khan > Poetry > The Netherlands
Wasima Khan is a Pakistani-Dutch writer, poet, and jurist based in The Hague, the Netherlands. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Fourteen Hills, About Place Journal, Third Wednesday, Hawai’i Pacific Review, West Trestle Review, Santa Fe Literary Review, and elsewhere. She has won first prizes in four essay competitions, and her journalism has appeared in Dutch newspapers. Previously, Wasima authored a law dictionary and worked as a law lecturer and legislative lawyer.
Yuening Weng > Poetry > China
Yuening Weng is from Shenzhen, China, and will soon begin her undergraduate studies in the United States. She is an alumna of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio. She writes in English, Cantonese, and Chinese. She lives with her two dogs and finds inspiration in everyday moments. When she is not writing, she enjoys practicing yoga and searching for new herbal teas.
Zoe Culbertson > Poetry > Massachusetts, USA
Zoe Culbertson is an acupuncturist, meditation teacher and poet who has published work in Wild Roof Journal, Action, Spectacle, Wildfire and printed two chapbooks (Become and The Wake) on a letterpress using her own handmade paper through Persephone Press. She is a founding member of the Marblehead (MA) Poets Group where she lives by the sea with her family.
Zoleikha Baloch > Flash Fiction > Iran
Zoleikha Baloch is a poet, memoirist, and cultural archivist from a remote village in Golestan Province, Iran. Her work honors the silences, resilience, and everyday beauty of Baloch women, blending poetic memory with lived experience. She writes to preserve voices often forgotten, and to build bridges between worlds through literature.