Poetry Contributor
The only class Devon Marsh ever dropped at the U.S. Naval Academy was an elective on poetry. If he had not dropped it, he probably would not be writing today. His poetry has appeared in The Lake, Poydras Review, The Timberline Review, Muddy River Review, Penmen Review, Loch Raven Review, The Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets, and at http://devonmarsh.com.
Poetry Contributor
Cymelle Leah Edwards is an African-American emerging poet in Phoenix, Arizona. She recently graduated with her B.A. in English and is planning to obtain an MFA in Creative Writing. Her work has also appeared in Elm Leaves Journal, The Cerurove and The Pangolin Review, with work forthcoming in Gaillardia.
Creative Nonfiction Contributor
Dani Putney is a queer, non-binary, Asian American writer exploring the West. Their work most recently appears or is forthcoming in detritus, Empty Mirror, Juke Joint Magazine, Mura, and Noble / Gas Qtrly, among other publications. Presently, they’re infiltrating a small conservative town in the middle of the Nevada desert.
Poetry Contributor
Jody Burke-Kaiser was born barefoot in the Appalachian foothills of Kentucky to a family long steeped in storytelling and sarcasm. She has a MA in literature from Boston College, and an MSN in midwifery from Marquette University. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and her work has appeared in Panopoly, The Louisville Review, Rhino, Gingerbread House, After Hours, BrainChild, and Pirene’s Fountain, and other publications.
Fiction Contributor
Max was born in Palm Springs, CA and went to school at the University of San Diego. He lived in Atlanta for five and a half years attending law school and appealing wrongfully obtained criminal convictions. He now lives in Seattle, WA and spends his time doing yoga, basketball and waiting for Seattle’s new hockey team. He plans on earning enough money to one day operate an independent bookstore at a modest loss.
Dear Reader,
I’m so happy that you’ve picked up heat, our third issue of Nightingale & Sparrow. This is our biggest issue yet—packed with poetry, prose, and photography from more than 70 contributors from across the globe. We have quite a few returning contributors, who’ve been an instrumental part of Nightingale & Sparrow from the very start. And, just as importantly, we have a slew of brand-new birds welcomed into the Nightingale & Sparrow nest.
As I write this letter, Nightingale & Sparrow is in the midst of some exciting additions and changes. We’ve continued to grow, and will continue to expand our team, our community, and our offerings well into the future. We’ll soon be announcing our 2020 themes for this literary magazine, and our press and its activist imprint share some publishing plans that we can hardly wait to share.
Of course, none of this would be possible without our incredible community. From each individual submitter, to our phenomenal team (Emma, Megan, and Kim—thank you, as always, for your hard work!), countless people play a critical role in the growth and continuation of our corner of the literary space. And these crucial players are the reason you can read this issue.
When we announced submissions for heat, I had no idea I’d be reading and editing work in the midst of a series of literal heat waves! But truly, these pieces didn’t need such a setting—they brought up the temperature effortlessly. We asked submitters to send us “sunshine and bonfires…fireworks and rendezvous, beach scenes and bedrooms,” and they certainly delivered.
From those submissions, we’re thrilled to bring you the selections herein. Feel the seductive drip of sweet fruit juice in Margaret King’s “I Should Be Writing/Mango”, and the tang of pomegranate in Mollie Williamson’s “Persephone”. Quench your thirst with Lynne Schmidt’s “Remember to Drink Water” and step onto the beach with the opening stanza of “First Date Not Counting Lester Duncan”. Step into the fire of words and images making up heat and feel the sparks surround you.
As always, thank you to every submitter, contributor, reader, supporter, and staff member who’ve made heat and Nightingale & Sparrow more generally. I hope you enjoy issue III as much as I have, and I can’t wait to see what’s to come in issue IV, nevermore, this Halloween!
Juliette Sebock
Editor-in-Chief, Nightingale and Sparrow
Creative Nonfiction Contributor
Justin Karcher is a Pushcart-nominated poet and playwright born and raised in Buffalo, New York. He is the author of several books, including Tailgating at the Gates of Hell (Ghost City Press, 2015). He is also the editor of Ghost City Review and co-editor of the anthologies My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry (BlazeVOX [books], 2017) and MANSION (dancing girl press, 2019).
@Justin_Karcher | @the.man.about.town
Poetry Contributor
Photography Contributor
Marsha Leigh is a featured artist with Corel Painter software. Her nonfiction writing has appeared in The Palo Alto Review as well as The Santa Ana River Review. Now retired from a major airline, she lives in Los Angeles pursuing photography, digital painting, and writing.
Poetry Contributor
Laurie Koensgen’s poems have appeared in Literary Review of Canada, Arc Poetry Magazine, In/Words, Barren Magazine, Juniper: A Poetry Journal, Ottawater, Kissing Dynamite, and elsewhere. She was shortlisted for The Malahat Review’s Far Horizons Award for Poetry 2018 and recently received the Honourable Mention in Arc’s Diana Brebner Prize. Laurie is a founding member of Ottawa’s Ruby Tuesdays poetry collective.