Welcome.

Does It Have Pockets is an online literary magazine with an emphasis on the uncategorizable. Scifi poetry? Memoir as instruction manual? Fiction as recipe? If you’ve ever been told, “I love this, but I don’t know where to put it,” try us!

A note on our name: A question became a metaphor for what we carry into our lives and stories. Around here, pockets aren’t sewn shut for a good silhouette. We welcome your pockets: large, small, messy, empty, and frayed.

Our Masthead

Staff

Camille Griep (Editor in Chief/Publisher) is a writer/editor based in Seattle USA, via Montana, SoCal and the Bay Area. She curses Mozart from her piano bench and embellishes perfectly serviceable recipes with mixed results. She purchased the DIHP domain a decade ago in the hopes everyone would someday love a pocket metaphor as much as she does.

Angela Kubinec (Senior Editor) was a Physics major who did her senior thesis in astronomy, and ended up teaching Mathematics until retirement. Some say her head is in the clouds but when does she care, she writes and she reads; that’s all that matters. She enjoys being active, and swam her first uninterrupted mile on Tuesday, August 8, 2023. She plans to go to the trophy shop to purchase an engraved medal for her accomplishment, and carry it in her pocket like some kind of athletic talisman. Or maybe a small trophy to adorn her desk which carries six printed reams of her writing that won’t fit into her pocket.

Anne Anthony (Art Director/Senior Editor) grew up with four brothers, envied their so readily available pockets in their clothing, and swore she’d never wear anything which didn’t have space for her folded up, crinkled poems and stories. She believes the more pockets, the richer the writing. A writer, photographer, and general mischief maker, Anne lives in North Carolina amongst deer, rabbits, and coyotes. 

Grant Shimmin (Senior Editor) grew up in divided South Africa, stayed to see the welcome changes, and then moved to New Zealand in 2001. A journalist and opinion editor for the Stuff news organisation, he’s based in Christchurch. Writing a weekly column for 11 years indirectly drew him back towards the cringeworthy poetry of his late teens and early twenties, hopefully with better results. Now he always has to have a pocket (and let’s face it, being a guy that’s less of a problem) for his phone, because it’s in the Notes app that the new poetry chapter started in 2022. There are close to 400 notes in there now, many complete poems, many works in progress, and hopefully space for many more.

Jody padumachitta Goch (Reader) grew up on the Wet Coast of Canada. They now live in the German Black Forest. Jody’s pockets have bits of words, dog and horse treats and chocolate. The words become poems or stories. The chocolate and animal treats disappear at an alarming rate. Jody believes in pocket realms, those mysterious openings into a writer’s mind.


Assistants

Hippo (Hippolyta Marie Siefker Griep) is an Olde English Bulldogge who tends the EIC. Her hobbies include charming baristas with her stylish underbite, sunbathing, guarding the front fence, drinking ice water, and perambulating with her Pa(w). She adores pockets full of biscuits, but does not enjoy pill pockets.

Mr. Humphreys is a small dog who compulsively enters the kitchen. He resembles a furry peanut when curled up on the sofa. He makes demands, which are usually ignored. Usually.

Mr. Nash is the picture of a sweet old man. He flops around the house all day, and walks with occasional reluctance. He makes no demands, so we are relieved.

Clara holds to a single name in the tradition of Avi, Colette, Prince, and Aesop among other iconic heroes of her heart. As a pup, she easily fit into the winter jacket pocket of her housemate, Anne, and spent considerable time playing 'shark in the water' during which she nipped at the ankles of anyone sitting on the sofa and foolish enough to dangle their legs to the floor. She is especially fond of stories with unexpected twists.

Banjo, a 16-year-old cocker spaniel-Jack Russell terrier cross, still tackles the many New Zealand hill tracks close to home with aplomb, but loves the beach most of all.

Jaimmie is new to the world of words. She hasn't figured out yet how to herd them into some kind of neat order. She's giving it her best and hopes cocking her head sideways will help. She likes cuddling into Jody's lap and being read to, poetry being her favorite.

In Memoriam

Jessa, was a border collie mix, an absolute corker and great friend. She liked it best when her human companion, Jody, read where she could cuddle up and keep an eye out on the snacks. Jessa crossed into the After in March 2024 & is much loved and missed.