Issue #15 ~ Spring 2024
Release Date: April 12, 2024
Featuring:
Three poems by Jim Peterson: Bend, Faraway, The Hammock
Plus…
More in Poetry:
(Non)detrimental Reliance by Esther Ra
Incoagulable by Lucy Walker
After the Bombing by Eneida P. Alcalde
Biotic by Adesiyan Oluwapelumi
Flash Fiction:
Razia, Razia by Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar
Rainbow Mittens by Lea Pounds
Shades of Jade by Marlana Botnick Fireman
Smoke Break by Cat Casey
FLASH NONFICTION:
Odore di Neve by Jacqueline Goyette
Lineage by Gail Hosking
FICTION:
Funny by L. L. Babb
Grasshopper Gut Punch by Jacob Orlando
Blue Light by Cortez
Poetry to me is a medium by which I experience the world in its ability to elevate my consciousness beyond the faux limitation of my mind.
From “Emotional Resonance and Self-Discovery: A Conversation with Adesiyan Oluwapelumi“
The emotion, feeling, and insight of the poem is conveyed down the poem and into the mind of the reader.
This year feels like a year of questions, for me. Maybe the prophecy lies somewhere inside that notion, like we can find the future in how we ask for it.
~ Jacqueline Goyette
I write in recognition of their courage, convictions, sense of justice, and what they stood for. I write to honor what they left behind, what they withstood, what they lost, and what we gained as a result.
~ Eneida Alcalde
Perhaps it’s important to me that we recognize the human-ness of these sort of lost individuals and acknowledge those traits in ourselves.
~ L.L. Babb
I listened to many people’s experiences around a particular issue, looked for themes in their answers, and drew conclusions. I bring that experience to my writing by examining how a character’s outward behavior reveals their inner life.
From our Q&A with Lea Pounds “Exploring Writing, Public Health, and Historical Fiction“
I was talking to my mother on the phone when she told me that in the old days people used to buy birds and free them in the hope of having a wish fulfilled. That thought was in my mind when I wrote Razia Razia.
I often felt like I had to lose my sense of humanity in order to continue working in customer service, especially food service. It might sound like an obvious sentiment but if there’s one thing I can get across with ‘smoke break,’ it’s to treat service workers with some grace – and perhaps to highlight the complex inner worlds experienced by all people, even those that are paid to serve you.
From TGLR Author Q&A with Cat Casey
I hope that their complicated relationship gets at the trauma behind the numbers of dead and injured at these mass shootings. Everyone means something to someone, and relationships can be complicated and tangled and messy, even between two guys.
From TGLR Exclusive Interview with Jacob Orlando: On Writing About Gun Violence and Human Relationships
Micro Monday
Features brief fiction, cnf, and poetry. It’s like a shot of literary adrenaline to jump start your week.
This week’s Feature…
Bespoke by Soramimi Hanarejima
Mom rode buses and trains all over the city to gather what she needed to make the best lullabies—the most mesmerizing melodies and loveliest lyrics—pieces I watched her assemble at the kitchen table in the kind of meditative trance she’d go into while kneading bread dough, her soft gaze settled on the fluid movement of her…
Keep readingTGLR Spotlight…
Author Q&A with Karla Hernandez Torrijos
Perhaps, like me, your eyes moved quickly over the list of names. A list of names is just that, after all, a list. It is nearly impossible to find humanity in a wall of text. When I first read The New York Times article from which this poem takes its title, I was struck most by the indifferent tone of news reporting, the apparent detachment by which facts are presented. In writing this poem, I…
Keep reading
The Latest News…
2024 Honeybee Prize Results!
For us at TGLR, summer means celebrating the highly anticipated results of our annual contest, the Honeybee Prize. For those new to TGLR, this is the 4th year we’ve run the contest and 100% of the funds received from submission fees are used to pay contributing writers and artists. So a huge THANK YOU is due to all who participated!!
It was difficult to narrow down all the incredible work we received to just…
Keep reading
More exclusive interviews and Q&A with our contributors…
For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz
TGLR News
2024 Honeybee Prize Results
2024 Spring issue is HERE
2024 New Year’s Revelations
2023 Honeybee Prize Finalists and Winners
TGLR is officially a nonprofit
The Good Life Review nominates for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net
2023 Pushcart nominations
2023 Best of the Net nominations
2022 Pushcart nominations
2022 Best of the Net nominations
2021 Pushcart nominations
2021 Best of the Net nominations
from the archives:
Ras Tafari Ghazal by Oak Morse
Ras Tafari Ghazal | Oak Morse My ancestor smiles in the soil, a heritage sweetlike mango, silkier than weed, bring it back to me. Nobody wants to plant the corn,…
read more
Life Must Go On by Cynthia Landesberg
Life Must Go On | Cynthia Landesberg “As the Rabbi says, ‘Life must go on.’” I found out about my grandfather’s passing sometime in the early morning. My mom’s voice…
read more
Waiting for Things to Die by Emile Estrada
Waiting for Things to Die | Emile Estrada Don Miguel’s white Buick spat smoke down the highway westward from Caracas on a Friday afternoon. Doña Soledad sat in the passenger…
read more
“Guten Tag, Baby!” by Scott C. Sickles
“Guten Tag, Baby!” | Scott C. Sickles Cast of Characters ELEANOR: 75-years-old, in early stages of dementia. Given to flights of nostalgia. VIVIENNE: 42-years-old. ELEANOR’s daughter. Tired from the long…
read more
Limerence by Levi Cain
Limerence | Levi Cain ok now i am beholding u / yes i am bewitched bythe stubby curl of yr ponytail the wide open arcof shoulders the single black…
read moreFor more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive
submissions:
We are currently open for all genres plus artwork! We nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and… YES we are a paying market! ($75 per piece published in the seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday)
The Good Life Review is seeking previously unpublished work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to submit your work.
Cover Art: “Focus” by K.A. Wesly
