News & Notes

T-Shirts, All Night, and Complexion

Upcoming Readers Write Topics and Deadlines

There’s still time to submit to Readers Write on “T-Shirts”! Be sure to get your entry to us by October 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. . . .

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.

Memories on Trial

An Interview with Erin McReynolds

In her mid-twenties Erin McReynolds lost her mother, who was murdered by the man she was living with. In her essay in this month’s issue, “And These Too Are Defensive Wounds,” Erin struggles with her feelings toward the man who is currently serving a prison sentence for killing her mother, and who is now up for parole. Her initial impulse is not to perpetuate the suffering caused by the murder, but would supporting his bid for freedom really be the right thing to do?

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.

Chores, T-Shirts, and All Night

Upcoming Readers Write Deadlines

There’s still time to submit to Readers Write on “Chores”! Be sure to get your entry to us by September 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. . . .

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.

Loosening the Strings

Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum on Craft, Curiosity, and Letting Go

Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum’s story “Clean Breaks,” which appears in our August issue, is her first publication in The Sun. When Kirsten and I spoke by video call, she was in an eight-by-eight-foot room in her yard that her husband built for her. She referred to the space as a sanctuary, a place where she can teach and write without interruption. The idea of closeting oneself away for solitude reminded me of Sonja, the main character in “Clean Breaks,” who, after experiencing a traumatic event, leaves her home and nursing career behind to live alone on a sailboat. Kirsten and I discussed the inspiration for this story as well as her writing process for her forthcoming novel, Elita.

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.

Tents, Chores, and T-Shirts

Upcoming Readers Write Deadlines

There’s still time to submit to Readers Write on “Tents”! Be sure to get your entry to us by August 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. . . .

Where the Hunger Leads

Kate Osterloh on Building a New Life

The Sun has published three short stories by Kate Osterloh. Her writing is warm and rich, and her characters feel real and complex. But after reading each of her pieces, I found myself increasingly curious about Kate’s life and experiences. I knew little about her, except that she is a former US foreign diplomat, which only made her seem more mythical. I was thrilled when Kate agreed to talk with me about her essay in our July 2024 issue, “New Life,” which recounts how she created a fresh start for herself, moved west, and became a mother. In conversation she was inviting and compassionate, and we talked for an hour, but we could have easily continued for another.