April | Poetry and the Promise of Spring

Dearest Readers,

Our team returned this past weekend from AWP 2025 in Los Angeles, exhausted and exhilarated, having basked in the company of contributors past and future, boundlessly creative peers, and a resilient city full of artists of all disciplines.

Like all of you, our team is looking at the Spring ahead. We see changes and challenges, anticipate looming heartbreak tantalizing celebrations. But the gift we brought home from LA, having spent time with our siblings-in-literature is, quite simply, hope. (And 34 pounds of books.)

In that spirit of optimism, we present our April issue, with a special double poetry section to celebrate National Poetry Month.

We know the world is hard right now. So many things are unrecognizable, and the bright spots can be perplexingly elusive. But these twelve poems, alongside some knock-your-socks-off fiction, CNF, and artwork, offer a taste of our year ahead, the light and the dark, bitter and sweet, calamitous and calm.

Wishing you poetry and illumination, now and in the days ahead.

XO,