News & Notes

Complexion, Records, and Tips

Upcoming Readers Write Deadlines

There’s still time to submit to Readers Write on “Complexion”! Be sure to get your entry to us by December 1, 2024—we’ve suggested a few potential prompts if you still need to get your creative juices flowing. And it’s never too early to start your first draft for an upcoming topic. . . .

New-Release Roundup

November 2024

The books put out by Sun authors over the last several months include a few out-of-the ordinary offerings, such as a collection of short stories about Alaska and a literary field guide that combines poetry with scientific notes. If you’d like a preview, you can read some poems and stories that first appeared in The Sun at the links provided.

Sun Dial: Pieces About Phones

Selections from the Archive

Phone evangelist, Becky Mandelbaum, describes the hours at a time—hours!—spent with her ear to the receiver, and all the pleasure she’s derived from it, in her essay in our November issue, “The Telephone Mode.” Phones have come up in The Sun about as frequently as you’d expect. Here are some selections from our archives where a phone plays a pivotal role.

In Sync

Ismael Fernandez on the Joy and Passion of Dance and Photography

Through his images, Brooklyn-based photographer Ismael Fernandez strives to reveal the everyday beauty that may often go unnoticed. His photo essay in The Sun’s November issue—“Blues in Black and White”—does just that. The images illuminate the soulful ambience and spirited connection at events combining dancing and live blues music in New York City. I was curious to learn more about Ismael’s passion for both photography and dance.

Conversations with Family and Strangers

Poetry in Our November Issue

In C.L. O’Dell’s poem “Driving Upstate with My Father,” we’re taken inside the cab of a pickup, where the narrator wishes for his dad to tell him “the good stuff” from his past. Erik Tschekunow also envisions a conversation in “This Call Is from an Inmate at a Federal Prison”: with hesitancy and hope, the narrator imagines the voice he’ll hear on the other end of the line when he calls a woman who’s volunteered to talk to incarcerated men.

All Night, Complexion, and Records

Upcoming Readers Write Deadlines

There’s still time to submit to Readers Write on “All Night”! Be sure to get your entry to us by November 1, 2024—we’ve suggested a few potential prompts if you still need to get your creative juices flowing. And it’s never too early to start your first draft for an upcoming topic. . . .

Tree Season

Evergreen Selections from the Archive

Every October I find myself paying a lot of attention to trees. Fall is my favorite season (bring on the crisp air and hot tea!), and the best part, as far as I’m concerned, is watching the leaves change. It was with pleasure that I read Sparrow’s essay “Thoreau and Me” in our October issue, in which he describes his autumn excursions, and Todd Davis’s memoir “The Next Peak” that takes a more poignant view of trees, as the author hikes the woods accompanied by the spirit of his departed father. This month’s selections from our archive are pieces that explore the beauty, consolation, and meaning humans find in these sheltering plants. We hope you’ll enjoy spending time with trees in these pieces and out in the world this month.

November Preview

Dash Lewis’s conversation with billy woods

“Past Futures” will be published in the November issue of The Sun, but we’re inviting you to read it a bit early because we think Dash Lewis’s conversation with billy woods is important to mull over in the coming weeks, regardless of what happens on Nov. 5 (or beyond).

Woods is not a politician or a political theorist or a pundit. He is a rapper whose work over the past two decades has undoubtedly been shaped and influenced by the decisions and attendant consequences that come from the offices of power around the world. In his conversation with Lewis woods talks about the cycles that have defined much of human history while also acknowledging how unpredictable they can be. While not necessarily comforting, woods’s view of the world is at once tangled and clear minded.

Family Ties

Poetry in Our October Issue

In Cameron Barnett’s poem “Grandpa’s Gavel,” a family heirloom transports the author back through memories of his grandfather’s social-justice work, convening NAACP meetings and orating in church. The gavel is like a magic wand that brings this beloved mentor to life. Lance Larsen’s poem “Bring Me a Horse” also involves family bonds, with an even stronger dose of magic: a group of boys tinker with protective spells to keep their dads “alive and cussing.”

Coping Mechanism

Peter Stenson on Writing, Parenting, and Phish

The Sun publishing Peter Stenson’s story (“Bone Frag”) was a good opportunity for me to catch up with him, which we did over Zoom a few months ago. He was older and wiser, sure, but in many ways still the Peter I had known and liked so well back in Colorado. We talked about where our lives had gone since grad school, where they were headed, and even touched on some of our questionable-to-others musical tastes.