Lawani Sunday, Vendor, 2016. Acrylic on Canvas, 36 x 48 in.
We are thrilled to announce Lunch Ticket’s new Winter/Spring 2017 issue!
This issue contains 82 new works of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, flash, young adult, works in translation, visual art, and interviews. We are immensely proud of the diverse body of writers and artists who shared their work with us and proud of our all-volunteer staff who pulled long hours to bring this issue into the world. At this time, we find ourselves contemplating our identities as writers, artists, and editors with a new solemnity, embracing the idea that literature and art can create space for empathy and understanding; build bridges and cross divides; give a voice to hope within varied narratives. At Lunch Ticket, it has always been our mission to promote social justice and to support emerging writers and under-represented voices. At this time, we find ourselves rising to this mission with new energy and purpose.
Take a look at some of the work we have had the pleasure to publish in this issue:In this issue, we say goodbye to our Editor-in-chief of the last three issues of Lunch Ticket, Arielle Silver. In her Word from the Editor, Arielle writes about the recent election and how it relates to the work we do at Lunch Ticket. She urges us to hold a magnifying glass to the wrinkles we see in the world in an effort to make things more whole. Lunch Ticket’s social justice mission, which mirrors Antioch University of Los Angeles MFA program’ mission as well, remains at the center of everything we do. Arielle writes, “If anything, the 82 pieces, from interviews to art to new and translated work in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction in this Winter/Spring 2017 issue, point to the value and necessity of open discourse, of reading the white space between words along with the words themselves.”
- Exclusive interviews with recent MacArthur Fellow Maggie Nelson, artist Harry Dodge, Tananarive Due, Michael-Jaime Becerra, Fred Moten, Dayton Literary Peace Prize Winner Susan Southard, and more.
- Featured essays Witness 2016, United States of America by Deidra Edwards; A Corrido for Macondo by Joe Jimenez and Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo; and Call to Arms by US Marine Corps Captain Lisbeth Prifogle.
- New works in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Flash Prose, Young Adult (13+), Poetry, Literary Translation, and Visual Art.
- Plus, winners and finalists of Lunch Ticket’s two literary contests: The Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation and Multi-lingual Texts.
As Susan Southard says in her interview, “I don’t speak out about issues that are important to me; I tell the stories that I hope will impact others to think more deeply, expansively, and empathetically. This is what I love to do. And, as a result of the opportunity to be published here and in other countries, I’m grateful that people in the United States and different parts of the world are now reading the survivors’ personal experiences and understanding more fully the enduring impact of nuclear war.”
Grace Lynne, Habitat, 2015
Words have power that reach far beyond ourselves and around the world. They stop wars. They bring people together. They give power and visibility to the invisible. In this issue, we believe you will see something new, something unexpected, and something powerful. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Take good care,
The Editors at Lunch Ticket
