By Melissa Schack

Shannon Michelle is a mother of 2, wife, poet, and mentor to many. She is doing what she was born to do, writing for the world as a poet. She writes about empowering others, but this time she plans to empower herself with a live reading of her women’s empowerment poem featured on Instagram for International Women’s Day.
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By Tanya E. E. E. Schmid

By The Editors

It's exciting when an underrepresented group of poets get their time to shine. Take Rainie Oet, for example. The writer and game designer's memoir in verse, Inside Ball Lightning (SEMO Press), made its premiere earlier in the year. Similar to other stories seen in this series, the book was ready to be shown off at AWP 2020 until many publishers, including SEMO Press, cancelled their appearances for safety concerns.

For Oet, it makes finding new readers for their book difficult. Should the circumstances call for even more protective measures, it may impact the release of Oet's third book of poetry, Glorious Veils of Diane to debut next winter. To give a sense of how promising the collection is, Glorious Veils of Diane was praised by George Saunders (yes, that George Saunders) as “complex, mysterious, finely wrought, and formally daring.”

We spoke with Oet about their craft, generational hauntings, and the work that inspired their own stories. 
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By Gretchen Gales

I don't doubt that like me, you have also been spending a lot of time listening to music, podcasts, and other media to pass the time or listen to while working from home. So why not take a moment to discover someone new? 

YouTube's content tends to be dominated by many male content creators (many I enjoy watching myself), but if you're looking to diversify your subscription list, now is the perfect time to dive in! From beauty channels to wicked good research and commentary content, check out some of my own favorite creators. 
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By Wendy A. Miller

My mom had breast cancer when she was 53. She is now 78, walks most mornings in the mall, and has never had a reoccurrence. I am a worrier, so I assumed that I, too, would get breast cancer someday. But when someday came, I was dumbfounded. I asked the doctor, “Are you sure you have the correct lab results? I then told her, "I don't feel sick." She nodded with a sympathetic gaze. "I recently climbed Mount St. Helens with girlfriends, none of whom have cancer…4,665 ft of vertical in less than 5 miles." She gave me a no-teeth grimace and replied, "There are different types of mountains to climb."  ​

By Melissa Schack

When the audience can’t come to the theatre, the theatre will come to you. Performance art speaks to us in times of crisis. War, poverty, and disease are no match for the prevalence of the theatre.

Samantha Baird, a graduate of BYU’s Theatre Arts Studies program, had to adapt her work as a director, dramaturg, playwright, performance reviewer, theater journalist, performing arts teacher, and stay-at-home mom to fit the restrictions of quarantine. She looks to the future and prepares her work for another performance.
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By The Editors

Calling all bibliophiles and champions of small presses! Our founding editor Christine Sloan Stoddard's novelette Naomi & The Reckoning is available for pre-order from Finishing Line Press. 

By Melissa Schack

In a time when art is labeled non-essential, people turn to art as an outlet to explore and escape the impact of the pandemic. Megan Hill is an illustrator and painter in Richmond, Virginia whose recent work took the theme “Valiant Women of the Vote” in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment. Her work as an art teacher at Abrakadoodle and as an after school counselor at the Steward School was discontinued, but she doesn’t let COVID-19 keep her from creating. Since her unemployment, she turned her attention back to painting and reflection. She reopened her Etsy shop and plans to take commissions. She’s a testament to the resiliency and adaptability of artists.

By Gretchen Gales

Local bookstores have been closing as a precaution for COVID-19, causing a lot of uncertainty about the fate of small businesses. While some bookstores have been doing book delivery services or urging their regular customers to purchase gift cards for future use, another alternative has appeared to rival big companies like Amazon: Bookshop. 

By The Editors

April was going to be a big month for Kim Vodicka. Her poetry collection The Elvis Machine (CLASH Books) premiered at AWP earlier this year, but Vodicka voluntarily decided against seeing the copies of her book for the first time it due to safety concerns. Today, she is still fighting against the shadow of COVID-19 amidst cancelled book readings, meet-and-greets, and other crucial events for a book's success, including the New Orleans Poetry Festival and L.A. Times Festival of Books. 

Like many writers, she's turned to the internet's writing community for support. While we're not thrilled with the circumstances, it's still pretty badass to talk to her about 1950s dudebros, how to carve out a poem, and the intersection of poetry and performance. 
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By Ghia Vitale

​Kawaii self-care and skincare makes you glow. That’s why I recently tried the Rilakkuma Blemish Treatment Patch with Hydrocolloid by Rilakkuma Beauty.

By Alex Carrigan

By The Editors

Like many workers, Brianne Agnizle found herself on the sidelines after the club she works at closed indefinitely due to the pandemic. But filing for unemployment, the advice given to many furloughed and laid off workers, isn't a possibility for Agnizle. Like many other dancers across the country, there are limited to no protections for any type of sex worker, regardless of their essential role in clubs across the county. 

​Even during these times, Agnizle's voice is far from silenced. Her piece, "I'm Sorry I Said Your Other Name", was featured in South 85's Fall and Winter 2019 issue and she is currently working on her memoir. We speak with her about the memoir, the stigma against sex work, and the Italian Mafia. 
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By The Editors

People say they wish they could live during a historical event...until they do. But historians know it's a lot of more observing from a distance. 

David Perlmutter, the author of two history books and a freelance writer, knows this firsthand. He worries that a world with COVID-19 is a world that makes an already tough livelihood tougher. We ask about his past writing about the history of animation, the essential roles libraries and bookstores play in supporting indie authors, and more in the latest segment of Creation in Isolation. 
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