Stonecoast Review Issue 18 Now Available

Stonecoast Review, Issue 18 is now avail­able for pur­chase from local book­seller Kelly’s Books to Go. Support inde­pen­dent and inclu­sive pub­lish­ing today by order­ing a copy here.

To our readers, here is a brief note from Stonecoast Review Issue 18 editor Caite McNeil that appears in the opening pages of the print edition…

How appro­pri­ate that Sarah-Jane Crowson’s artwork should grace the cover
of the Stonecoast Review, Issue 18. On these pages, readers will delight in
the lines between the rules, the intri­cate weaving of stories, and the subtle
casting of shadows. Our con­trib­u­tors come to us from all over the country and
all over the world. Some have many books and pub­li­ca­tions to their name,
while others are first timers. And here is the beauty of a lit­er­ary journal: it
is a meeting place for those with beau­ti­ful stories to tell, regard­less of their
noto­ri­ety or phys­i­cal location.

It is here that we come togeth­er to cel­e­brate an exquis­ite line of poetry,
like the opening line from Jessica Cohn’s poem, “Fruit”:

A woman could forget herself,
staring at pome­gran­ate in the produce section.

Here, too, we linger over Michael Oatman and Jackson Smith’s “LaVelle’s
Heart,” a bold tale of a white man, alive thanks to the trans­plant­ed heart of
a young Black man. Within these pages, we also encounter Emma Watkins’s
A Soft Place to Land, a mono­logue so funny, and yet so heart rending, its
premise will stay with us—perhaps haunt us—forever. Of course, every
piece in Issue 18 is some­thing special, some­thing new and provoca­tive and
beau­ti­ful. We are thrilled to put it all into one place for our dear readers to
enjoy.

Finally, how apt that Crowson’s piece fea­tures an open hand. The
staff of the Stonecoast Review is all vol­un­teer; many of us are stu­dents and
working writers. To read in this capac­i­ty is an act of open­ness, generosity,
and an inher­ent belief in the impor­tance of lit­er­ary jour­nals. We are honored
to read and respond to 100 percent of our sub­mis­sions because we know
what it means for an author or artist to send the work of their souls out for
con­sid­er­a­tion. The making of this journal is a col­lab­o­ra­tion with first readers,
genre editors, assis­tant editors, and of course, con­trib­u­tors. It is truly the
work of many hands. A thou­sand thanks to the Stonecoast Review team. This
issue is all thanks to your hard work and dis­cern­ing eyes.

Be well and thanks for reading,

Caite McNeil
And the Stonecoast Review Team

A huge thanks to all of our readers and writers. We’ll have updates very soon on when sub­mis­sions are opening for Issue 19.