A Letter from the Editors
Dearly beloved Barnstorm submitters and readers:
If you’ve paid attention to our burgeoning literary journal this year, you know it’s been an exciting time for us. As our 2021-22 editorial cycle draws to a close, we have some celebrating to do—and news to share.
First and foremost, we want to acknowledge the stellar writers and artists who trusted Barnstorm with their work this year. Check out their work in our latest issue—and browse a list of their names below.
Thank you to our readers and to everyone who submitted to Barnstorm. Our ambitious little journal would not be possible without you. It has been a pleasure to read such compelling work; our editorial team has been tasked with some extremely difficult decisions throughout the past ten months. If your work didn’t make the cut this cycle, we hope you’ll try submitting again soon.
Now onto what’s new: In addition to fulfilling our mission to publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry and artwork that speaks to the depths of our souls, we’ve been cooking up some exciting developments.
First, it’s a small step, but we’re happy to announce that we now accept visual art submissions via Submittable. We feature artwork with each published story, essay and poem and try hard to find original artwork. Opening submissions in this way makes it easier for artists to find us and send their work.
The biggest change this year was developing a provocative new ‘home’ for Barnstorm Journal. This was a passion project of our outgoing editor-in-chief Elise Wallace (and an overdue one, if you recall our website circa 2010). We’re beyond proud to show off this bold new digital space.
Launching the new website was a part of a goal among the entire editorial team to elevate this journal. This transformation involves aspects both public and behind-the-scenes. It means not only sprucing up (more like overhauling) the website, but also bringing our readers the highest quality writing, providing our chosen authors and artists with intentional feedback, and fostering a professional atmosphere within the editorial team.
As a culmination of these efforts—and to maintain such a caliber of work and content—we are implementing a $3 submission fee on June 1, 2022 for fiction and poetry submissions. This small financial resource will provide support for new possibilities: it can support the work of Barnstorm staff; it may fund future projects such as writing contests, prizes and awards, or a live reading event. Ultimately, it will help us achieve our mission: to publish the best personal and creative nonfiction essays, short stories, poetry and art that is playful, takes risks, and, as our motto says: harnesses energy.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Barnstorm is thrilled to announce that we will launch in-person events this fall. Our literary journal operates out of the University of New Hampshire, which is located just a short drive from the New England seacoast towns of Dover, Portsmouth, and Kittery—as well as about an hour from Boston and Portland, Maine. Our goal for the next editorial cycle, led by incoming editor Claire Sasko, is to more deeply connect with local readers, writers, bookstores, and publishers. If you call the seacoast home, keep your eyes peeled for forthcoming news about issue parties, readings, and collaborations. And be sure to sign up for our newsletter using the link at the bottom of this page.
That’s all for now, folks. We’ll be accepting submissions throughout the summer and reading them in August, as soon as the next academic year begins. If you’re a writer or artist, we hope you’ll send us your best work.
Until next time,
Elise Wallace and Claire Sasko
Barnstorm Editors, 2021-22 and 2022-23
An acknowledgement of writers published this past editorial cycle:
Fiction
Isaac Black
Christina McCabe
Sheila Mulrooney
Sarah Bordreau
Jordan Dilley
Geoffrey Waring
Nonfiction
Sarah Kovatch
Nikki Barnhart
Maya McCoy
Greg Bowers
Mary Zelinka
Magdalena Bartkowska
Kira Homsher
Poetry
Jordan Dilley
Frederick Pollack
Maura Way
Erin Carlyle
Heather Lang-Cassera
John Muro
David Starkey
Brennan Burnside
Dmitry Blizniuk
Kevin Griffith
Paula Brancato
Tingyu Liu
Katherine Gaffney