A Letter from the Editor
Dear Barnstorm readers, contributors, and friends;
We are sincerely excited to present Issue 3 of Barnstorm Journal Volume 15.
In this collection, The December Issue features resonant nonfiction, gripping fiction, and breathtaking poetry by Leath Tonino, Joel Gordon, and Sarah Lilius; paired to captivating artworks by Michelle Disler, Michael Moreth, and Judith Skillman, respectively. This issue truly offers the power of exploring form, voice, pace, and purpose in our writing — considered as both an end-product and a process, as Fiction Editor Amanda Nevada DeMel highlights in this Issue's insightful Storystorm blog article, "Write Every* Day."
Though this Issue's featured fiction, nonfiction, and poetry all circle musings on endings, deaths, hard changes, and the instability therein, I can't help but be captivated by all three authors' deft attention to the somber moments of beauty that these subjects entail.
In Leath Tonino's lyric essay "Postcard from Immensity," the breathtakingly bright and vast vistas of the Grand Canyon are considered in their incongruity to the inevitable passing of a loved one. Paired to Michelle Disler's artwork "Street Scene, Beaver Island, Michigan," depicting the small town where the artist's father built a home over many years, the works call to the power of care and remembrance.
Joel Gordon's fiction short story "The Pond," paired to Michael Moreth's vibrant illustration "Quotidian," approaches the narrator's new home (and the seemingly unending line of deceased animals on the property) with a measured intensity, looking to the strain on the narrator's family that these deaths of squirrels and koi bring about.
And further, Sarah Lilius's poem "Side Effects Include Dehydration," paired to Judith Skillman's oil painting "Ethereal Poppy," tells of a woman's management of her bipolar disorder and the effects of her medication.
But throughout, we glimpse the beauty in the darkness. Tonino offers us the tenderness with which Sophia writes postcards to her ailing aunt. Gordon considers the resilience of the koi fish. Lilius calls on blooms of joy being temporary, but lasting longer if cared for. In all of these works, our featured writers and artists consider the depths and aches we face in our lives, but acknowledge the light that we can all seek, find, and cultivate.
Our third issue of Volume 15 comes to you, our readers, at a time of change and growth. As Editor-in-Chief and sitting in my third year as part of the Journal's editorial team, I've been incredibly fortunate to see Barnstorm develop in its identity, mission, and structure — both internally and in the published issues we excitedly release each month. Barnstorm's organic change is inherent in its structure. As a literary journal staffed, edited, and operated entirely by graduate students of the University of New Hampshire's MFA Creative Writing Program, our editorial roles are passed on to fresh eyes as our editors and readers take the step from Candidate to Author's Name, MFA.
I tell you this, dear readers, as it's now my turn to pass the reins of Barnstorm forward. Though atypical in Barnstorm's fifteen-year lineage, Volume 15 will see a handoff of the Editor-in-Chief post during our forthcoming annual winter hiatus as I finish my time in the UNH MFA Creative Writing Program. Having also served as Managing Editor for Volume 14 and an eager submissions-reader for Volume 13, I'm humbled and proud to have worked with such brilliant collaborators to present our Barnstorm audience a curated selection of written, visual, and audio works that capture a sense and expression of the Barnstorm ethos.
Beginning with Volume 15, Issue 4 — forthcoming in February 2024 — Barnstorm Journal will see our current co-Managing Editor Cari Moll stepping into the Editor-in-Chief post, with Managing Editor Is Curtis continuing in their position. Cari, a poet in their first year of the UNH MFA Creative Writing Program, has been highly active behind-the-scenes of Barnstorm over Volume 15's first three Issues.
Namely, Cari and Is have been preparing for our editorial team's upcoming pilgrimage to the AWP Conference in Kansas City, Missouri! They'll see you there February 7-11, 2024. Be sure to swing by Barnstorm's big yellow table at the AWP Bookfair to meet the folks behind the screen — Cari and Is, our Genre Editors TJ, Steph, and Amanda, and our Arts Editor Cat — to learn more about the Journal and the UNH MFA Creative Writing Program.
And so with this, I'm proud to be passing the Editor-in-Chief post forward to Cari and the Barnstorm team. My heartfelt thanks to the wonderful Barnstorm staff over the years, and to all our submitting writers and artists who have made this Journal possible for our 15 Volumes and counting, who make all the work of each Issue so very worth it. I can't wait to see what comes next!
Here today, we're pleased to present to you these captivating, curious, and vividly moving works by Leath Tonino, Joel Gordon, Sarah Lilius, Michelle Disler, Michael Moreth, and Judith Skillman. Settle in with your blankets and a mug of tea for some winter reading as the cold rolls in, and we hope you enjoy this Issue's collection.
In gratitude and many words, signing off,
Mason M. Cashman
Editor-in-Chief, Barnstorm Literary Journal