The Sun Magazine The Sun Magazine, Independent, Reader-Supported Publishing https://www.thesunmagazine.org/rss/articles Summer Reading Recommendations 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 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

]]> Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:55:32 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/29002-summer-reading-recommendations http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/29002 The Sun in Portland, Oregon 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. 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.



]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 02:00:38 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/29000-the-sun-in-portland-oregon http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/29000 New-Release Roundup 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. 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.

]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 01:00:36 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28999-new-release-roundup http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28999 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. 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.

]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:50:16 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28998-to-the-woman-sitting-next-to-me-in-the-fertility-clinic http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28998 Making Do 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. 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.

]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:50:04 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28997-making-do http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28997 Home Is the Place 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. 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.

]]> Thu, 04 Jun 2026 01:00:14 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28996-home-is-the-place http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28996 Standards of Care The reason Black women were used to develop the field of gynecology was because they were no more than property. They weren’t seen as people; they were just seen as things. The controlling of Black women’s bodies started with chattel slavery, but it continues today. The reason Black women were used to develop the field of gynecology was because they were no more than property. They weren’t seen as people; they were just seen as things. The controlling of Black women’s bodies started with chattel slavery, but it continues today.

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:45 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-standards-of-care http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28985 606 - Wild - Pitts The Empty Room Inside Each of Us Crumb is always right, always the one telling the story, always the one who turns the drab, lonesome plains they call home into a world that’s dramatic and necessary. Crumb is always right, always the one telling the story, always the one who turns the drab, lonesome plains they call home into a world that’s dramatic and necessary.

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-the-empty-room-inside-each-of-us http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28992 606 - Pedersen - Wilkins Because I became allergic to chocolate when I was seventeen because a rash spread on my chest when I ate mole sauce at Sanborns; because acne populated my face every time I drank hot cocoa; because I believed it to be easy to give up something I loved because a rash spread on my chest when I ate mole sauce at Sanborns; because acne populated my face every time I drank hot cocoa; because I believed it to be easy to give up something I loved

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-because-i-became-allergic-to-chocolate-when-i-was-seventeen http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28991 City Chickens I never thought // I’d end up like this, domesticated as a pet lamb, / with a mate who worries our hundred-year-old house // needs new everything, shingles to foundation. I never thought // I’d end up like this, domesticated as a pet lamb, / with a mate who worries our hundred-year-old house // needs new everything, shingles to foundation.

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-city-chickens http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28990 606 - Estep - Luterman Formed Otherwise There’s a presumption that to raise a child with disabilities makes you brave. I wasn’t brave. I wasn’t always a stellar mother, either. But I studied my daughter as if she were an ancient text to see what was beneath the chatter and the rage. There’s a presumption that to raise a child with disabilities makes you brave. I wasn’t brave. I wasn’t always a stellar mother, either. But I studied my daughter as if she were an ancient text to see what was beneath the chatter and the rage.

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-formed-otherwise http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28989 606 - Epli - Bernstein The Feeding Some leeches have two jaws. Others have three. Some have teeth on their tongues. There are protective leeches who hover over their eggs, and leeches who carry their newborns in pouches like tiny kangaroos. Some leeches have two jaws. Others have three. Some have teeth on their tongues. There are protective leeches who hover over their eggs, and leeches who carry their newborns in pouches like tiny kangaroos.

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-the-feeding http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28988 606 - Rios - Glatt The Good End of Pleasant Street When our landlords came by to introduce themselves, they stood beside a shelf of our books on how to avoid suffering: “Develop a mind that clings to nothing,” said the Buddhist Diamond Sutra; Be Here Now, read the spine of a Ram Dass book. Dan was a general contractor and wore a flat cap and a half grin. Or a sneer. I wasn’t sure which. When our landlords came by to introduce themselves, they stood beside a shelf of our books on how to avoid suffering: “Develop a mind that clings to nothing,” said the Buddhist Diamond Sutra; Be Here Now, read the spine of a Ram Dass book. Dan was a general contractor and wore a flat cap and a half grin. Or a sneer. I wasn’t sure which.

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-the-good-end-of-pleasant-street http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28987 606 - Easley - Lanier Our Fraying Hearts I have a sense of the drama people want to hear about, but most days our ER is filled with abdominal pain and vomiting—nothing like what you’re accustomed to seeing on TV. I have a sense of the drama people want to hear about, but most days our ER is filled with abdominal pain and vomiting—nothing like what you’re accustomed to seeing on TV.

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-our-fraying-hearts http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28986 606 - Taher - Reinbold Sunbeams God and the Doctor we alike adore / But only when in danger, not before; / The danger o’er, both are alike requited, / God is forgotten, and the Doctor slighted. John Owen

God and the Doctor we alike adore / But only when in danger, not before; / The danger o’er, both are alike requited, / God is forgotten, and the Doctor slighted.

John Owen

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-sunbeams http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28984 606 - Wild - Sunbeams A Thousand Words A Thousand Words features photography so rich with narrative that it tells a story all on its own. A Thousand Words features photography so rich with narrative that it tells a story all on its own.

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-a-thousand-words http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28983 606 - Brandao - A Thousand Words Correspondence Although it’s always difficult to read about a woman repressing a part of herself to hang on to a relationship, I greatly appreciated Moonshine Matthiessen’s essay “Waterfall” in the January 2026 issue. The piece is beautifully written, and Matthiessen is incredibly candid about her experiences. I admire her courage to voice her desires, her shame, and her struggles. I, too, stayed longer than I should have in a past relationship, and I’ve often wondered about the mechanism of denial. How is it that, so often, we can’t or won’t recognize when remaining in a situation is bad for us? Perhaps if there were more studies on denial, we would have answers as to why people stay in abusive relationships, how others justify their addictive behaviors, and why so many people in our country remain true to a president who continues to destroy us. Name Withheld Although it’s always difficult to read about a woman repressing a part of herself to hang on to a relationship, I greatly appreciated Moonshine Matthiessen’s essay “Waterfall” in the January 2026 issue. The piece is beautifully written, and Matthiessen is incredibly candid about her experiences. I admire her courage to voice her desires, her shame, and her struggles.

I, too, stayed longer than I should have in a past relationship, and I’ve often wondered about the mechanism of denial. How is it that, so often, we can’t or won’t recognize when remaining in a situation is bad for us?

Perhaps if there were more studies on denial, we would have answers as to why people stay in abusive relationships, how others justify their addictive behaviors, and why so many people in our country remain true to a president who continues to destroy us.

Name Withheld

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-correspondence http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28982 Contributors Kris Chambas is a retired pediatric nurse practitioner and former pastry chef. She lives on a lake in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and loves spending time with her grandchildren and their yellow Lab, Odie. She snapped our June cover photo on a humid morning in a cattle barn at the Wisconsin State Fair. More

Kris Chambas is a retired pediatric nurse practitioner and former pastry chef. She lives on a lake in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and loves spending time with her grandchildren and their yellow Lab, Odie. She snapped our June cover photo on a humid morning in a cattle barn at the Wisconsin State Fair.

More ]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-contributors http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28981 606 - Stolow - TOC - Main Milk Pumped for an infant, spilled at the dinner table, used as a tear gas antidote Pumped for an infant, spilled at the dinner table, used as a tear gas antidote

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 11:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-milk http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28993 606 - Wild - Milk The Ties That Bind 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. 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.

]]> Mon, 18 May 2026 16:05:35 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28980-the-ties-that-bind http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28980 Become A Friend Of <em>The Sun</em> 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. 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.

]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 14:17:36 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/606-become-a-friend-of-the-sun http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28994 Become A Friend Of <em>The Sun</em> 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. 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.

]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 14:17:36 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28979-become-a-friend-of-the-sun http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28979 Contenders 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. 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.


]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 01:00:14 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28978-contenders http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28978 Ancestors Some African harmonic traditions and histories may have been redacted, but they’re not lost. In New Orleans, specifically among the tribes, they made sure to hold on to those histories and the skeleton keys of those expressions. Some African harmonic traditions and histories may have been redacted, but they’re not lost. In New Orleans, specifically among the tribes, they made sure to hold on to those histories and the skeleton keys of those expressions.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:45 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/605-ancestors http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28967 605 - Campbell - Cohen Back Cover Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/605-back-cover http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28976 605 - Brooks - Back Cover Practicing Taking piano lessons, learning to speak Russian, seeking enlightenment Taking piano lessons, learning to speak Russian, seeking enlightenment

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/605-practicing http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28975 605 - Anzorena - Practicing Separation There is a dead snake on the cracked road. My son says it’s not a dead snake. He says the snake has just shed its skin and left it there. There is a dead snake on the cracked road. My son says it’s not a dead snake. He says the snake has just shed its skin and left it there.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/605-separation http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28974 Boxer’s Fracture My mother once put her fist / through drywall, nothing fractured // but that already-broken home, / a little more of her spirit and ours. My mother once put her fist / through drywall, nothing fractured // but that already-broken home, / a little more of her spirit and ours.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/605-boxers-fracture http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28973 Rise I wasn’t about to tell Simon what happened. Buddy Sikes was one of the popular kids. Simon wouldn’t understand. Not because of his differences, but because he was still at the age where a clear line separated right from wrong. I wasn’t about to tell Simon what happened. Buddy Sikes was one of the popular kids. Simon wouldn’t understand. Not because of his differences, but because he was still at the age where a clear line separated right from wrong.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/605-rise http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28972 605 - Obrien - Falkowski Architecture in Music My twenty-year career as a professional cellist has enabled me to bring an insider’s understanding of music to the visual exploration of instruments. My twenty-year career as a professional cellist has enabled me to bring an insider’s understanding of music to the visual exploration of instruments.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400 https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/605-architecture-in-music http://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28971 605 - Brooks - 01