by Alanna Carlson Anyone who knows me knows that I am unabashedly, loudly, political. Not infrequently, a family member (often on the other side of the political aisle than myself) will ask me some variation of the question, “Why do you care so much about something that doesn’t really affect your life?” I have, until … Continue reading What Witness Means
by Laura Bloxham I have always loved reading. When I was a child I gravitated toward Nancy Drew, who solved mysteries, had a supportive father, although largely in the background, a best friend, a boyfriend, Ned, and a car. She was independent. I avoided animal stories, which almost always ended with the animal dying. I … Continue reading Shaping Identity: Literature that Lives in Me
by Emily Donnel Dr. Laurie Lamon lives in Spokane, Washington and is currently a professor in the English department at Whitworth University, where she teaches classes on creative writing and poetry. Dr. Lamon’s poetry has appeared in many well-known journals and magazines, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, Ploughshares, Ruminate, The Literary Review, The … Continue reading Environmental and Nature Writing: An Interview with Laurie Lamon
by Sunni Brown Wilkinson I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly average person but for one thing: growing up, my tastes never seemed to align with those of my peers. In high school I dressed far too old or too quirky (blazers with shoulder pads, suspenders, tights underneath shorts), I read the English pastoral … Continue reading Shaping Identity: Musical Misfit
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by Susannah Brister For twenty-two years, I didn’t really know what my body looked like. Whenever I got in or out of the bathtub or the shower, I never looked straight at myself. I averted my eyes from the mirror, afraid that seeing my own nakedness was somehow wrong. Raised in the homeschooling evangelical Christian … Continue reading Shaping Identity: Body
by Ann Marie Bausch There is a famous family story about my husband as a little boy. At a gathering, a relative asked one of the only questions adults can think to ask of children: “So what do you want to be when you grow up?” Wes, five years old, looked puzzled, and then replied, … Continue reading Shaping Identity: The Identity that Wasn’t
A note from Rock & Sling: Jason Mehl’s essay “Ears to Hear” appears in Rock & Sling 13.1. You can read the essay here. By Jon Maire On the surface, “Ears to Hear” is an interesting personal essay about a safari and a guy with a real – or imagined – heart problem. But when … Continue reading An Interpretation of Jason Mehl’s Essay “Ears to Hear”
by Margaret Rozga As a person who has long been active in social and racial justice movements, my goal as a poet is to create poetry written from a deep commitment to social justice issues. My books can serve as examples. 200 Nights and One Day is about the Milwaukee fair housing marches in which … Continue reading Vox II: Contributor Notes
by Ann Marie Bausch When news of sexual assault allegations against author Junot Díaz broke in the spring of 2018, my first reaction was grief: Not him! Díaz was one of my favorite writers, an advocate for immigrants and the causes of the dispossessed worldwide, someone I felt I had learned from. But his alleged* … Continue reading What We Read
