News & Notes
Featured Selections
Paying Attention
Poetry in Our April Issue
In Stephen Knauth’s “My Favorite Bird,” a “drab” little visitor to the author’s backyard prompts a thoughtful and empathetic contemplation of who this feathered creature is. The poem is a reminder that the world around us deserves our attention, an idea that is shared by the other poems in our April issue. Leath Tonino tells the story of a day, one moment at a time—from fires and floods to a man forgetting to plug in his slow cooker—in “Shift.” In Richard Chess’s “The Loneliest Monk Listens,” an unidentified presence counsels the speaker to breathe, remember, and listen. We invite you to do the same.
The Highs and Lows of Getting High
Selections from the Archive
In The Sun’s archives there are dozens of selections about the ways people find meaning in nature. We’ve gathered a few favorites below that we hope you’ll enjoy.
Fresh Sights
Poetry in Our March Issue
For many of us March is a time when the world outside is full of surprises and every day brings new sights—bulbs emerging, trees budding, the first bare ground after months of snow. The poems in our March issue offer fresh images of their own: A dog running the bases in Laura Didyk’s “Like Love Is a Heart.” In Jeff Tigchelaar’s “Regards,” a squirrel shocked to find the author playing hooky on his deck. And, just in time for spring, an early patch of flowers in “Snowdrops,” by Andrea L. Fry.
The Great Outdoors
Selections from the Archive
In The Sun’s archives there are dozens of selections about the ways people find meaning in nature. We’ve gathered a few favorites below that we hope you’ll enjoy.
Animal Nature
Poetry in Our February Issue
Didi Jackson’s poem “Wild,” in our February issue, opens with a cat crawling up the chimney of its new house; Chera Hammons’s “Classroom Hatch” begins with a batch of chicks her husband has brought home from his fifth-grade class. From there these poems explore themes of wildness, safety, and the search for one’s place in the world—both for the animals and for the humans who interact with them. The poems make for beautifully complementary reading.
The Great Beyond
Selections from the Archive
The Sun has a long history of publishing work about the mystery of what might await us after our lives on earth have ended. December’s selections from our archive—some spooky, some serious, and some on the lighter side—delve into visions of the afterlife. Whatever your personal beliefs, we hope you’ll find a piece or two to enjoy.
Family Inheritances
Poetry in Our December Issue
What we inherit from our families can take many forms—intangible, difficult, or surprising—as you’ll find in our December poems. Frederick Joseph remembers an enduring lesson learned from his grandmother, his “maker of miracles,” in “Making Luxury Out of Flat Soda.” The narrator in Mickie Kennedy’s “Guarding the Coop” battles a tendency for violence passed down from his mother. And in Joseph Bathanti’s “Right Guard,” the author conjures his father’s spirit from a can of deodorant his dad left behind.
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.
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.
Give in to the temptation. We love getting mail.
Write Us A Letter!