Featured (Re) Contributors:  

TEXT

Poetry: Caits Meissner. Robert Gibbons. Tony Howarth. Sean Singer. Amirah Al Wassif. Sun Yung Shin. Flash Fiction: Paul Hostovsky. Eliot Ku. Annelies Mohle. Short story excerpt: Jennifer Baker. Flash Creative Non-Fiction: Lea Page. Paula Colangelo. Ujjwala Kaushik. 

The Multi-Genre Science Corner.

ART
Irina Tall
Gina Randazzo

MUSIC
Songs in the Key of Teens

Welcome to our Spring-back-after-Fall-and-Winter-hibernation issue! Our theme  for this season of blossoms and (re)newal: The Teenage Years

In our TEXT section, we (re)joice at the opportunity to present poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction by our wonderful cast of authors. And as always, we share the happenings within and beyond our universe in the Multi-Genre Science Corner.

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Souvenirs from the teenage years:

In our community in Chatanooga, Tennessee in the mid-to-late 1950s, we had social clubs. One for the girls; the Dutchesses and one for the boys; the Dukes. We would meet at our houses and talk about things like school, what we wanted to achieve in the future. And as we were African-American and it was the segregated south – someone might share if they were confronted by anyone in their daily travels. We knew where you could go for a meal, for example, and where you couldn’t. It was just the way things were at that time. 

Our Dukes and Dutchess dances were held at local venues such as the YMCA and the Deployers Club. We would dance – maybe it was the twist? – to music by James Brown and more.  — J.P., Los Angeles, CA.

POETRY

FLASH FICTION

SHORT STORY EXCERPT

CREATIVE NON-FICTION

THE MULTI-GENRE SCIENCE CORNER

“Science is the poetry of reality.” — Carl Sagan

The famous scientist’s teenage yearbook.

Excerpt from an Interview with Neil DeGrasse Tyson for Business Insider:

At the time deGrasse Tyson was just a 17-year-old kid from the Bronx with dreams of being a scientist, but [Carl]Sagan had invited him to spend a Saturday with him in Ithaca at Cornell University, after seeing his application to attend University there.

“At the end of the day, he drove me back to the bus station. The snow was falling harder. He wrote his phone number, his home phone number, on a scrap of paper. And he said, ‘If the bus can’t get through, call me. Spend the night at my home, with my family.’

I already knew I wanted to become a scientist, but that afternoon I learned from Carl the kind of person I wanted to become. He reached out to me and to countless others. Inspiring so many of us to study, teach, and do science. Science is a cooperative enterprise, spanning the generations.”

By the age of twelve Albert Einstein had taught himself geometry. At the age of sixteen he failed an exam in order to qualify to train as an electrical engineer. He remained in school and developed a new plan for his future. Einstein decided to study math and physics so he could become a teacher. — nasa.gov

ART

The ART section of this season’s issue highlights (re)calibrated images through the unique artform of collage as created by Irina Tall.

Gina Randazzo graces our pages with dynamic photography that captures the world of a young protester as she courageously takes a stand on climate change and its detrimental effect on the environment.

IRINA TALL 

Irina Tall (Novikova) is an artist, graphic artist, and illustrator, and author. A graduate of the State Academy of Slavic Cultures, Irina’s first solo exhibition was at Maksim Bahdanovič Museum in Balarus. Her works often raise themes of ecology; in 2005 she devoted a series of works to the Chernobyl disaster, drawing on anti-war topics. In 2020, she took part in Poznań Art Week. Her work has been published in Gupsophila, Harpy Hybrid Review, Little Literary Living Room, among others. Irina was included 2022’s The 50 Best Short Stories, (published by Vine Leaves Press, 2022) and The Wonders of Winter: A Poetic Anthology (South Arizona Press, 2022).
https://www.instagram.com/irina.tall111?igsh=YWYwM2I1ZDdmOQ=

GINA RANDAZZO

Avery Tsai is a climate activist with Extinction Rebellion NYC. She is 14 years old.

Gina Randazzo born in New York City, earned a BFA from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts where she studied filmmaking and photography. Gina’s work as a visual storyteller concentrates on social justice. Published editorial work may be seen in media outlets including The Guardian, The New York Times, Mother Jones and The Wall Street Journal. Her photography has been exhibited at galleries and museums across the United States including The International Center of Photography (ICP), A.I.R. Gallery, Pen + Brush, Samuel Dorsky Museum Of Art, and Houston Center For Photography. A member of the Directors Guild of America, Gina is an Assistant Director with film and television production credits that include six seasons of Law & Order, Eight Men Out (dir. John Sayles) and Cadillac Man (dir. Roger Donaldson).

MUSIC

What better way to celebrate the teenage years and those that fall beyond the bounds of adolescence than with music on the top of the pop charts.

Thanks to Sky Music for this playlist.

https://youtu.be/fXt7l3veIqA?si=lsHp7uxiRHutC3Dw