Flight 23.4 imagines a future that springs forth from eternal optimism. These are unprecedented times in a hyper-connected world. As the institutions we were taught to trust fail in real time, compassion becomes our most vital tool. It is all too easy to see history happening around us and feel helpless. How do we rescue a future from a past that is intent upon repeating itself? The answers and approaches are different for each of our authors and artists. Yet in every piece, there are instructions for survival: talk to a stone when your mother dies, have a one-on-one with Plato, rewrite the past one hundred years down the line, rendezvous with a robot at the end of the world.
We are thrilled to announce the first episode of Blackbird Literary Podcast.
Included in v23n4 are poems by Diane Seuss, Oksana Maksymchuk, Li Jhen-Hao (transl. by Nicholas Wong), Jacob Griffin Hall, Elly Luisa Salah, Shira Dentz, Henry Hart, Ron Smith, and Clare Rossini.
In Creative Nonfiction, there are two essays by Elie Keller and Angela Townsend, as well as a special feature by Mary Cappello.
In Fiction, we are excited to feature two pieces by Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi.
In Book Reviews, Interviews, and Craft Essays, Richard Hamilton reviews Sarah Audsley’s Landlock X.
Char Gardner’s cerebral drawings remind us that there are entire, strange worlds inside us.
There is resounding hope in this Flight. We hope it brings you comfort.
Read more about the contributors for v23n4 here.
