CHIRPS FROM THE SPARROW
Editor Diane Smith
OUR NATIONAL TREASURE
Robert Bly
POETRY
Imagine by Gary Beck
1951, A Good Time to Die and Madison Street Hill by Tim Brennan
Coming Out of Hibernation and Always Listing by Lisa Cihlar
Blue Flame and Balcony Photo by Lisa M. Cronkhite
The Stranger, Not My Father by Paul Cordeiro
Catch on the Fly by Michael Lee Johnson
Three Poems by Renee Emerson
The Moon and Me on Water-Heavy Nights, A Window View In Winter by Nina Romano
Hospital Sill by Donal Mahoney
Westward, Ho! by Pepe Nero
Laundry, Love is Blindness and Why Can’t They Shit Here? by Mary Lynn Reed
Free by Ethel Rohan
SHORT STORIES
Tears for the River God by Marko Fong, Photo credit of the Mekong River, Kulvinder Singh Matharu
The Way the World Is by Michael Henson
FLASH
Yes Him! by Randall Brown
Going West by Elizabeth Creith
The Visit and View by Sara Crowley
Yes by David Erlewine
The Experiment and Defective In Either Affect of Volition by Stefanie Freele
The Oracle of Curry County and Lingering in Casitas Negras by Beth Thomas
Forget the Monotony of Old Poets by Richard Osgood
Christabol’s Dread by Cooper Renner
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photos by Elox
Photos by David Petranker
Photos by Ajay Prasannan
Photos/Art by miyography
Photography/art by myoriginalsin
Doves by James S. Oppenheim
Photos by Eiko
CONTRIBUTORS
Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director and worked as an art dealer. He has been a tennis pro, a ditch digger and a salvage diver. Gary’s chapbook, Remembrance, was published by Origami Condom Press and The Conquest of Somaliawas published by Cervena Barva Press. A collection of his poetry, Days of Destruction, has been published in 2009 by Skive Press. Original plays written by Gary and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway and toured colleges. He currently lives in New York City, where he’s busy writing. Poetry and short stories he’s written, have appeared in numerous literary magazines.
Tim J Brennan writes from southeastern Minnesota. His poetry has been published in Whispering Shade, Shampoo, Main Channel Voices, River Walk Journal, and other nice places. Tim’s poem “Hewn” will be featured in this fall’s Talking Stick as a first place winner. His short plays have been widely produced, most recently in NYC.
Randall Brown holds an MFA from Vermont College and teaches at Saint Joseph’s University and Rosemont College. His poems, essays, short stories, and (very) short fiction have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. He is the lead editor of SmokeLong Quarterly, the author of the award-winning collection Mad to Live(Flume Press, 2008), and a contributor to the forthcoming Rose Metal Press Field Guideto Writing Flash Fiction: Tips from Editors, Teachers, and Writers in the Field(Rose Metal Press 2009).
Lisa J. Cihlar lives and writes in rural Brodhead, Wisconsin. She has had poems published in Word Riot, Wicked Alice, Salome, Qarrtsiluni, Best Poem, and other journals. She was selected a runner-up in the 2007 and 2008 Wisconsin People and Ideas poetry contests and was nominated for a 2008 Pushcart Prize. One of her poems will be in the 2010 Wisconsin Poets Calendar.
Paul Cordeiro had his last free-verse publication in The Chiron Review, where he lead-off its last issue with two comic poems. He hopes it wasn’t a fluke.
Elizabeth Creith has written flash fiction for the last five years. Her 55-word flash “Companion Animal” placed twelfth in the 2008 Writers’ Union of Canada Postcard Fiction Contest and served as the seed of a novel currently in progress. For ten years she wrote humour for CBC radio, both regional and national. Her flash has appeared in The Linnet’s Wings, Flash Fiction Online, The Lorelei Signal, Maple Tree Review, New Myths, and Tuesday Shorts. She currently pays the bills by working part-time with her Australian shepherd, Sky, at the pet store she and her husband own in Sault Ste Marie. Elizabeth lives, writes and commits art in Wharncliffe, Northern Ontario.
Lisa M. Cronkhite has published work in Bible Advocate, Combat Magazine, Clark Street Review, Salome Magazine, The Penwood Review, Scrap & Stamp Arts Magazine, The Shepherd, Soul Fountain, and Fighting Chance Magazine. She is currently taking a writer’s course for children based in Connecticut.
Sara Crowley has had fiction published by Pulp.Net, 3:AM, elimae, flashquake, Litro, Cella’s Round Trip, Dogmatika, Red Peter, Better Non Sequitur, and a variety of other lovely places. “Salted,” her novel in progress, was shortlisted for the 2007 Faber/Book Tokens Not YetPublished Award. She blogs at A Salted and appreciates you taking the time to read this.
Eiko is a Japanese Photographer.
Renee Emerson was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. Before moving to Boston last year, she had never lived outside her home state. Now she is completing her M.F.A. from Boston University, and her work has appeared in Tar River Poetry, The Blue Earth Review, TheAmerican Literary Review, and various others. Recently she was the recipient of the Academy of American Poets prize from Boston University. She currently works as a poetry editor for The Basilica Review (readbasilica.com) and as a part-time secretary, writing poetry in her little rented house she shares with her husband.
Dave Erlewine stories appear or are forthcoming in about 70 places, including Ghoti, Pank, Literal Latte, SmokeLong Quarterly,and elimae.
Richard Fein was a finalist in The 2004 Center for Book Arts Chapbook Competition. He will soon have a Chapbook published by Parallel Press, University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has been published in many web and print journals, such as Southern Review, Morpo Review,Skyline, Oregon East, Southern Humanities Review, Touchstone, Windsor Review, Maverick, Parnassus Literary Review, Small Pond, Kansas Quarterly, Blue Unicorn, Exquisite Corpse, Terrain Aroostook Review,and many others.
Stefanie Freele’s recent and forthcoming work can be found in Glimmer Train, American Literary Review, South Dakota Review, Literary Mama, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Westview, Frigg, Boston Literary Review, Permafrost, Hobart, and Contrary. She has an MFA from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts: Whidbey Writers Workshop. After serving as the 2008 Writer in Residence for SmokeLong Quarterly, she recently joined their editorial staff. She is also the new fiction editor for the Los Angeles Review. Her short story collection Feeding Strayswill be published by Lost Horse Press in September.
Marko Fong lives in Northern California. Recently, he completed a linked story collection, which includes “Tears For the River God.” His stories have been published in Kartika Review and The Summerset Review. Marko Fong is our 2009 Pushcart Nominee for his short story Tears for the River God.
Kyle Hemmings served as associate poetry editor at Grey Sparrowfor the summer and fall issue, 2009. He was born in the US and holds an MFA in creative writing from National University, California. His stories and poems have been published in various online venues. Kyle’s work gravitates towards the experimental and edgy. Kyle confidedes his biggest aspiration is to draw like R. Crumb and loves the work of Lynda Barry as well.
Michael Henson is the author of a novel, a book of stories and two collections of poems. He is a member of the Southern Appalachian Writers’ Cooperative and lives in Cincinnati.
Michael Lee Johnson is a poet and freelance writer from Itasca, Illinois. His brand new poetry chapbook with pictures From Which Place the Morning Risesand his new photo version of The Lost American: From Exile to Freedomare available at:stores.lulu.com/promomanusa. He has been published in over 22 countries. The author is also editor/publisher of four poetry sites,all open for submission, which can be found at his website: poetryman.mysite.com
Donal Mahoney, an immigrant from Chicago, lives in St. Louis, MO. He has worked as an editor for The Chicago Sun-Times, Loyola University Press, and Washington University in St. Louis. He has had poems published in or accepted by The Wisconsin Review, The KansasQuarterly, The South Carolina Review, Up the Staircase, and others.
Kulvinder Singh Matharu was born in Tanzania. His parents moved to the UK when he was only two years old. His early childhood revolved around the wonders of science and the beauty of this planet. With his keen interest in electronics, it was only natural he received a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering and forged a successful career in telecommunications. Now with a steady income, Kulvinder was able to pursue his interests in travelling which, in turn, ignited a dormant need to capture the places he had visited. Initially using an affordable camera with full manual control, he has immersed himself into the world of photography with an online photographic portfolio. He provided two photographs of a Loatian village and the Mekong River.
Jerry Meyer was born in the United States and is a political scientist, as well as a photographer. His flower photograph, “Bouquet ofBokah,” taken in Japan is found on the Editor’s Choice page.
Pepe Nero is not Pepe Nero, his name is “other.” He is better known under his given name (which he despises) but Pepe Nero is catching up fast. He likes to use lower case letters because that’s what cummings and archy did. He pretends that it’s cool, but actually he is too lazy to hit the shift key, plus, English is not his first language. His father was a partisan and a drunk. He drinks too much red wine. Has lots of free time. Spends it in the studio. He lives in Manhattan and never wants to leave.
James S. Oppenheim was born in Washington, D.C., raised in Montgomery County, Maryland, schooled in Oxford, Ohio and resident in half a dozen Maryland towns (and, for a summer, Jacksonville, Florida). Jim has published in Equus, The North American Review, The Washington Post and Firehouse Magazine. He worked as managing editor of the University of Maryland graduate literary magazine, Ethos. He has also had a life in music, producing one album and playing venues from cabin porches in West Virginia to bars in Florida. Today finds him in Hagerstown, Maryland as a photographer, singer/songwriter, and the editor of a blog: Oppenheim Arts & Letters devoted to the understanding of political conflicts and small wars, also art, culture, and language.
Richard Osgood writes about simple things, except when he’s not. Publication credits include Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Hobart, The Write Side Up, Muscadine Lines, The First Line, Shine Journal, and forthcoming in Clockwise Cat. His story “Outs in Free” from The First Line was a 2007 Pushcart Prize nominee. He continues to mourn the deaths of Steve Marriott and Syd Barrett.
David Petranker lives in Australia. David said, “I have been taking photos from the age of 16 when I was using a Asahi Pentax ME, taking photos for the school paper. I am now using a Canon 450d, my main two lens are 70 – 200mm and 16 – 35mm, both L series. I love catching moments in peoples lives, you will never know what that moment was – you will only have an insight. 95% of my shots are edited in lightroom 2.0 using contrast and tone techniques, basically straight from the camera, the other 5% I use Photoshop CS3, you will know the shots that I modify.” See more of David’s work at RedBubble.
Ajay Prasannan was born and raised in the UK, where he currently works as a web designer and all-round IT troubleshooter. Regular trips to Kerala allow him to re-connect with his Indian roots and better understand the country he hopes to retire in.
Mary Lynn Reed lives and writes in Maryland, near Washington, D.C. Her short fiction and poetry has appeared in The MacGuffin, Happy, Karamu, Mississippi Crow, Night Train, and Per Contra, among other places.
Cooper Renner’s fiction has recently appeared in or is forthcoming from New York Tyrant, Keyhole, The Anemone Sidecar, Sleeping Fish and Unscroll. Dr. Polidori’s Sketchbook, his chapbook of text and art, will appear in 2010 from Mud Luscious Press. He is the translator of Chinese Checkers: Three Fictions by Mario Bellatin (Ravenna Press)
Ethel Rohan was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. She received her MFA in fiction from Mills College, CA. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from elimae; DecomP; DOGZPLOT; Storyglossia; Word Riot; mud luscious; Ghoti Magazine, and other fine journals.
Nina Romano has work appearing in The Rome Daily American; The Chrysalis Reader; Vox; Chiron Review; Rough Writer’s Ink; Irrepressible Appetites; Roads Literary Magazine; Night Train, and upcoming work in The Northville Review. Excerpts from her novel-in-progress, The Secret Language of Women, appear in Dimsum: Asia’s Literary Journal and Driftwood. Romano’s debut poetry collection, Cooking Lessons, was published in June, 2007. Her new collection, Coffeehouse Meditations, is forthcoming by Kitsune Books.
Beth Thomas has stories published or forthcoming in NOO Journal, FRiGG, Keyhole Magazine, SmokeLong Quarterly, and other places.
Randy Ulland granted special permission to publish his photographs of Tibet in the Sparrow’s anthology, “In the Silence of this Room” and at the website. He said, “The work you’ve seen of Tibet was from my days living and working in East Asia as a journalist. I now live in Oxford, England and most of my time is thinly spread between my family and psychotherapy work. I am, by the way, from Duluth, MN, where most of my family still lives. I went to the university in St. Paul.
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