Contributions
- ADHD in a Non-ADHD World: on Undersight by Alison Hurwitz
“[Hurwitz] shares moments of angst and moments of awe. More than that, there are moments of deep recognition. She sees herself in [her sons] and, in fact, receives a later-life ADHD diagnosis of her own.” Read the full chapbook review by new contributor, Nancy Murphy.
About the Contributor
Nancy Murphy is the author of the poetry chapbook, The Space Carved by the Sharpness of Your Absence (Gyroscope Press, 2022). She was a winner in the Aurora Poetry contest in Winter, 2020. Previous poetry publications include The Baltimore Review, SWWIM, Sheila-Na-Gig, glassworks, The Ekphrastic Review, Schuylkill Valley Journal, Cultural Daily and others. A long time volunteer at WriteGirl, Nancy has mentored teens through writing workshops and in the juvenile detention system. She earned a BA from Union College in Schenectady NY.
Books
The Space Carved by the Sharpness of Your Absence (Gyroscope Press, 2022)
“I want to tell her/ it takes a woman / a lifetime to know / if she is real / or only appears so / in a mirror.” Those are the words of the speaker in this debut collection from Nancy Murphy. At times melancholy, at times fierce, and always lyrical, these poems explore the various roles that women shift into and out of in their lives. From marriage to divorce, from having a mother to being a mother, to sending a daughter off to college, these poems explore the way women center the world, and what can happen when we lose that center and are forced to grapple with the realization that maybe “there is no mother now.” This book is for women and poetry lovers at every stage of their lives. A deeply personal and enjoyable read, this collection is one to revisit over and over again. —Tresha Faye Haefner, Author of Take This Longing. Founder of The Poetry Salon
Recent Work
- Poem: “The 2021 Pantone Color of the Year Was Dual: ULTIMATE GRAY + ILLUMINATING” (Anacapa Review)
- Two Poems (Cultural Daily)
- Poem: ”Not/My Story” (The Ekphrastic Review)
- Poem: “Dimming” (SWIMM Every Day)
- Poem: “When Love Comes to Town” (TELEPHONE)
Contributor Q & A
Can you tell readers a little about yourself and your life?
I had a long career underwriting specialty insurance risks and am now enjoying retirement. My main activities now are poetry, travel, volunteering, Pilates, and Spanish. What gets me up in the morning though are my daily NYT games.
How long have you been a writer and how did you get started?
I long had a secret life writing at night while underwriting in my job during the day. I had always journaled and had always written—journalism in high school, academic papers and a thesis in college, and lots of business writing in my career. Around midlife, these skills and practices joined up. I started writing poetry and taking classes at the UCLA Writers Program. I've tried many different genres especially memoir but poetry has been my touchstone. I also love the worldwide poetry community that sprung up during Covid and am very active in workshops, groups and readings. I love reading poetry aloud.
What’s an accomplishment in your writing life of which you’re proud and what do you still hope to acheive?
It was a special thrill to get my first poems published many years ago. I even received one acceptance on my answering machine. However, publishing my chapbook a couple of years ago was a big milestone for me. It was exciting and satisfying to complete, have published and share with others.
What do you look for in a book?
I mostly read poetry books now though still enjoy great literary fiction. I am drawn to work that makes my pulse quicken, when I have that sense that the author has something important to say.
Contents
“This language offers one possible framing through which to appreciate the law’s capacity to hope for, request, and even command commitment to a more just future.” Read two poems by Maggie Wang, our first biweekly poet of the Summer 2026 issue, along with a few words about “Possibilities for Action.”
Chapbook Poem: I’ll Never Look This Good Again by Douglas Piccinnini
“[The poem] came out of real pressure: despair, worry, and grief I wanted to hold unflinchingly, alongside the anxiety of becoming a parent… For me the poem became a meditation on all the feeling that surfaces precisely when we’re told to feel only joy.” Read an excerpt from Douglas Piccinnini’s chapbook, House of Bad Memories, along with a few words from the poet.
“She sees herself in carbon, the element that bonds with almost anything- not because it wants to, but because it has empty spaces and things keep showing up to fill them. Notifications. Noise. Needs that never stop arriving.” Read four poems by Joely Williams, our second biweekly poet of the Summer 2026 issue, along with a few words about “Single Mother Considers the Periodic Table.”
ADHD in a Non-ADHD World: on Undersight by Alison Hurwitz
“[Hurwitz] shares moments of angst and moments of awe. More than that, there are moments of deep recognition. She sees herself in [her sons] and, in fact, receives a later-life ADHD diagnosis of her own.” Read the full chapbook review by new contributor, Nancy Murphy.
“The woman’s head & hair are lavishly dressed. I probably leapt off the logic of the hairdresser being blind and therefore had to work on the head/body/mind rather than just hair as a surface issue of presentation.” Read two poems by Irene Cunningham, our third biweekly poet of the Summer 2026 issue, along with a few words about “The Blind Hairdresser.”
Flash Fiction: Nova by Kimmy Chang
“‘Nova’ is a lyrical second-person story about the narrator’s first true encounter with death…the story presents loss not as beautiful in itself, but as the place where beauty begins.” Read the first original fiction piece of the Summer 2026 issue, “Nova” by Kimmy Chang.
“To fit the nuanced, dimensional experience of dysphoria and transition into narrative…often feels flattening, falsely assured. I wanted to look at this discomfort I felt, to see what was necessary in it.” Read three poems by Joshua Zeitler, our fourth biweekly poet of the Summer 2026 issue, along with a few words about “Cobbling.”