Letter from the Editor
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for picking up our latest issue, growth. 2021 has been a hard year for our staff and, by extension, the lit mag, press, and its imprints. Between health concerns, the ongoing effects of COVID-19, and other crises, it’s been difficult to coordinate our team, especially as we bring on some new recruits (who should be making their Nightingale & Sparrow debut with our autumn issue!). Nevertheless, we’re delighted to bring growth to life.
In our second issue, renaissance, we featured a photo by N&S contributor Isidra Pendragon. That image, titled Growth, stuck with me. In part, it stuck with me because it reminded me of my own photos, published in the lovely Marías at Sampaguitas as a collection titled “les fleurs de la vie.” These images, together, inspired our eleventh issue, growth.
[As an aside, Marías is a favourite of ours—be sure to give them a read!]
Like with every issue, we presented our submitters with a prompt alongside our theme: “We aren’t only looking for notes on flora. From children growing up to emotional growth, we want to see your interpretations of this term in its many forms.” If you’ve read my previous editor’s letters, you won’t be surprised to learn that our contributors gave us that and more.
From “Echo Realizes” by Issa M. Lewis and “Grounding” by Lin Lentine to Kevin Browne’s “Creekside Impressions” and Roselle Farr’s “Dream Big” (which graces our cover), this issue discusses growth in a more multifaceted interpretation than we could have imagined.
growth is also noteworthy because it’s our first issue considering visual art besides poetry. We’re delighted to have artist Sarah Beck Mather’s work as a part of this issue and can hardly wait to see the pieces that will follow it in issues to come.
As always, thank you to everyone who makes Nightingale & Sparrow possible, especially as we adapt to our own “new normal.”
Here’s to growing and to growth.
Juliette Sebock
Editor-in-Chief, Nightingale & Sparrow