Contributors
September 2023
Writers
Derek Askey is an associate editor of The Sun. He lives in Durham, North Carolina. You can follow him on the app formerly known as Twitter @derekaskey if you promise to really lower your expectations.
moreJohn Bargowski’s patch of sweet corn was over knee-high by the Fourth of July despite a drought and cool spring weather in New Jersey. His newest book of poetry is American Chestnut.
moreJoseph Han’s ancestors moved from the northern peninsula of Korea to the south during Japanese colonial occupation in the early twentieth century. He was born in Seoul and grew up in Hawaiʻi. His debut novel, Nuclear Family, was published last year.
moreMark Leviton lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Nevada City, California, where he appreciates the wildlife, forests, and rivers — and the kindness of his partner when he gets cranky.
moreDevin Odell is a retired judge based in Fort Collins, Colorado. He is currently pursuing a childhood dream of spending a year on a sailboat exploring the Salish Sea.
moreErik Reece is the author of three collections of poetry and five books of nonfiction, including Clear Creek: Toward a Natural Philosophy, which was published in August. He lives in Kentucky and is the founder of Kentucky Writers and Artists for Reforestation, which has planted more than ten thousand trees.
moreCraig Reinbold’s writing has appeared in AGNI and Guernica. He works as a nurse in the emergency department of a hospital in southeastern Wisconsin. He became a nurse after giving up on being a writer, but apparently one can do both. You can follow him on Twitter: @craigreinbold.
moreLeah Rutherford is the pseudonym of a lesbian writer, relationship teacher, and coach.
moreDebbie Urbanski lives in New York and has cataloged 604 plant and animal species observations so far on iNaturalist, a community-science app. She only has several million more to go. Her first novel, After World, will be published in December.
morePhotographers
Abbie Brandao once witnessed a full-scale funeral for a Sharpie marker that was organized by her first-grade art students. She continues to enjoy the magic and creativity of children in her career as a family photographer in Louisiana.
moreLiam Cleary is a photographer who lives in Bavaria, Germany.
moreNina Gerzon is an electronic-music DJ who uses the moniker Metanoia. She lives in the mountains of Colorado with her husband and dog.
moreMia Gorrell lives in Colorado but has a deep hatred of winter. She is fascinated by abandoned places and old photographs, and in general is pretty weird. You can follow her on Instagram: @miagorrellphotography.
moreIan Hill is an adventure athlete and cofounder of a med-tech startup. He lives in Colorado and can frequently be found dangling from a rope, shooting pictures and video. You can follow him on Instagram: @ian.hil.
moreWayne Klaw is a photographer who lives in New Jersey.
moreJenny Magruder makes surreal self-portraits in nature. She lives in Buffalo, New York.
moreNadya Pajarillo lives in California and loves escaping to quiet places without roads.
moreDarling Junior Robles lives in Monterey Park, California, and still can’t decide, after fifty-three years, if she should use her birth name, Darling Junior Robles, or the name she was assigned when she was adopted at eight years old, DeeDee Burnett. You can follow her on Instagram: @thedogwalkinglady.
moreHiroshi Watanabe recently spent two years making prints of photos he took fifty years ago. Those images will appear in his next book, As the Sun Sets on Me, It Rises on You. He lives in California and still enjoys surfing from time to time.
moreJay Zebelian is a photographer and former history teacher who lives in Michigan.
moreOn The Cover
Thom Goertel lives near Washington, D.C., and travels the world to help with humanitarian projects. He took this month’s cover photo, of Teresa Cruz Morales, near Cuernavaca, Mexico, in early 2020. In collaboration with the nonprofit organization VAMOS!, Goertel made portraits that illustrate the beauty and hardships of thirty-six women experiencing poverty.
moreEditor and Founder
Sy Safransky
Senior Editor
Andrew Snee
Art Director
Robert Graham
Associate Editors
Derek Askey
Finn Cohen
Nancy Holochwost
David Mahaffey
Editorial Associate
& Photo Editor
Rachel J. Elliott
Assistant Editor
Staci Kleinmaier
Manuscript Reader
Hank Stephenson
Proofreader
Seth Mirsky
Outreach Coordinator
Anna Gazmarian
Publisher
Rob Bowers
Associate Publisher
Holly McKinney
Director of Development
& Outreach
Molly House
Reader Services Manager
Chrystal Pitt
Reader Services
Specialists
Shani Armstrong
Andrew Gleason
With Help From
Manuscript Reading
Dave Hart
Paula Jolin
Proofreading
Erica Berkeley
Jill Cooper
Social Media
Kelley Farris
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