News & Notes

Connections

Poetry in Our July Issue

The people who are connected to us—ancestors, family, friends—inevitably leave their mark on us, and the three poems in our July issue speak to those effects. Julia Kolchinsky’s intricate “Puzzle Pieces” examines complicated inheritances from one generation of her family to another. “The Eleventh Street Irregulars,” by Eric Paul Shaffer, is a spirited, gently funny reminiscence about a group of young men whose friendship keeps them afloat. In “Soup” Jared Harél recalls an indelible memory of his grandfather, revealing a tragic past and an enduring character.

Summer Reading Recommendations

June 2026

Summer is the season of soft serve (mountains of it), peaches and tomatoes, lounge chairs and short-shorts—and, of course, books propped open in the grass, beside the pool, and on the sand.

Searching for summer reading of your own? Below, you’ll find recommendations from the writers in our June issue, plus a few favorites from our staff. Lather on that sunscreen, lay out your towel, and enjoy.

—Al Favilla, Editorial Assistant

The Sun in Portland, Oregon

September 18 and 19, 2026

On September 18 and 19, join senior editor Derek Askey  at Lucky Labrador Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon, for this hour-and-a-half-long workshop where participants will learn about The Sun’s Readers Write section and draft entries for forthcoming, not-yet-announced topics. As time permits, participants will share work in an open, supportive environment, and have the opportunity to ask questions about submitting writing or the selection/editing process at The Sun.

New-Release Roundup

June 2026

Recent book releases from Sun authors include a bestselling memoirist’s notes on crafting difficult stories, meditations on the fragility of the natural world, and a poet’s hilarious and incisive observations about life in the Sunshine State. Pick one up today and support these wonderful writers.—Ed.

A Poem for World Infertility Awareness Month

Infertility is a struggle many face in silence, without the support of their community. Kelly Grace Thomas’s poem “To the Woman Sitting Next to Me in the Infertility Clinic” captures that sense of isolation as well as the impulse to reach out to one another. Though the poem won’t appear in the magazine until later this year, we are sharing it online now to coincide with World Infertility Awareness Month.

Making Do

Poetry in Our June Issue

Life inevitably brings annoyances and inconveniences our way, and we all have our own methods of getting through them. In her poem “Because I became allergic to chocolate when I was seventeen,” Shuly Cawood writes about how she coped with what I consider a truly tragic allergy. Alison Luterman, who’s stuck at home while her friends text her from their vacations, escapes by taking walks around her neighborhood, as she recounts in “City Chickens.

Home Is the Place

From the Archive

In her essay “The Good End of Pleasant Street,” which appears in our June issue, Heather Lanier and her family move into an apartment that’s part dream, part unfortunate reality. Their new place is in a beautiful Vermont town and has affordable rent. However, it’s also got lead paint, loud neighbors, and proximity to the town’s heroin crisis. All of this leaves the author continually wondering whether she’s living at what local residents call the “good end” or the “bad end” of Pleasant Street.

The Ties That Bind

Poetry in Our May Issue

Our relationships with family members are often crucial to who we are, for better or worse, and the poems in our May issue explore two sides of that dynamic. In “Boxer’s Fracture,” by Jackleen Holton, a mother’s death brings up strong emotions from the speaker’s painful childhood. In Meghan Daniels’s “Separation” the stresses and challenges of parenting, while exhausting, also form a solid center in the speaker’s life during an uncertain time.

Become A Friend Of The Sun

The Sun has always belonged to its readers. It exists because people believe in quiet conversation, in close listening, in honest storytelling. It exists because readers like you decide that this endeavor is worth sustaining.

Contenders

From the Archive

As you might expect, a team full of editors who spend most of their days at a desk aren’t remarkably gifted when it comes to playing sports. But that doesn’t mean that many of us at The Sun don’t love sports, and pieces about competition, games, and physical prowess have sporadically been featured in the magazine, usually to the delight of our readers.