News & Notes

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.

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.”

Anything You Say Can Be Used Against You

Selections from the Archive

One of my favorite pieces in our September issue is Erin McReynolds’s essay “And These Too Are Defensive Wounds,” which details the author’s interactions with the courts following her mother’s murder. It reminded me that, over the years, many pieces in The Sun have described interactions with our flawed criminal-justice system and the dramas that take place inside and outside of the courtroom.

Three Vivid, Varied Perspectives

Poetry in Our September Issue

The poems in our September issue invite me to share three vivid, varied perspectives. Luke Patterson’s prose poem “Extrication Day” offers a glimpse into the life of an EMT who sometimes needs his own rescue. In Luisa Muradyan’s “I Make Jokes When I’m Devastated,” the author deftly blends reflections on Jesus with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reminding us that humor and sorrow are both human responses to the unimaginable. And for a journey into the surreal, Ernest Ògúnyẹmí’s “The Dream” transports us through a mesmerizing landscape of the mind, where lush language and dreamlike imagery intertwine in a symphony of stars and music.

Listen to Poems from Our August Issue

The two poems in our August issue are like mirror images of each other, taking the same theme in reverse directions. In Nadia Colburn’s “August at Forty-Three,” a mother looks to the future, wishing for a child yet to be. The speaker in Jim Moore’s “Better Yet” looks back to his own origin, imagining a return to his “mother’s ocean.” You can enjoy these complementary visions by listening to the authors read their poems.

Reminiscing About School Days

Selections from the Archive

Our August issue looks at the way endings and beginnings are intertwined. This time of year the summer is winding down, and parents and children are gearing up for school. I miss the long cycle of the school year: the end and the new start. I rummaged around in The Sun archive for some pieces that could bring back that first-day feeling.

Listen to Poems from Our July Issue

Our July issue features two captivating—and very different—poems about animals. One is a gorgeous, ruminative piece that makes me feel as grounded as a stone in a stream. The other is a loving ode to a headstrong pet who can teach us all a lesson about taking charge of our lives.

Thoreau and Me

Read an Essay from an Upcoming Issue

If I had to pick a Sun author who comes closest to achieving a truly simple existence, it would be the poet Sparrow, who writes, “I don’t live off the grid, but I’m close. I live right on the edge of the grid.” Fittingly he wrote the following tribute to Henry David Thoreau.

The essay will appear in a forthcoming print issue of The Sun, but we’re sharing it early online in celebration of Thoreau’s birthday today, July 12.