In a dusty village outside Mexico City, the sun blistering hot, I fell doggedly in love with a pale blue ceramic dinner dish…
Mexican Blue by Judith Padow
Category: 2019 Issues
Potatoes and Carrots, or How I Found My Soul in Nineteen Prayers by Debi Lewis
The tools of my most potent ritual practice are laid out before me: peeler, knife, cutting board…
Winter Soliloquy by Kelly Fig Smith
These winter days I expend energy fooling myself into thinking I’m content. That I enjoy it, the oppressive dark, the bitter cold.
Light Therapy by Helen Collins Sitler
During the first summer of widowhood, I took refuge at the back of the house, in the prism of flowers that bloomed up the hillside…
Lost in Time by Jenna Dorian
My mother sat behind me in a chair, probably wearing her purple jacket and probably covered with a blanket, but I can’t quite remember. And then I heard her. “Where is little Jenna?”
Jewel Thief by Hannah Austin
There’s an old adage in AA that, before embarking on a romantic relationship, recovering addicts should get a houseplant….
Review: This Fish Is Fowl: Essays of Being by Xu Xi
Though the subject is serious, Xi finds a balance by weaving in references from Angry Birds to Malcolm in the Middle along the way.
Review: Mama, Mama, Only Mama: An Irreverent Guide to the Newly Single Parent by Lara Lillbridge
Four Ways to Relate to and Appreciate Mama, Mama, Only Mama If You Are Not a Newly Single Parent (or a Parent at all) and Concluding Remarks…
Review: The Buddha Sat Right Here: A Family Odyssey Through India and Nepal by Dena Moes
Dena Moes has such a command as a storyteller. Her voice is intimate, funny, and vivid.
CRAFT: What to Do When You’ve Written an “SFD” by Amy Evrard
Like many writers, up until that point I had approached my writing practice with resistance, self-doubt, and fear… When I first read Anne Lamott’s infamous chapter on “Shitty First Drafts” (SFDs) from her book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, I felt as if someone had scooped me out of choppy waters…
