Now Available: In Parentheses Magazine (Volume 6, Issue 4) Spring 2021

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The Spring 2021 Edition of In Parentheses is now available on print and digital platforms! This issue concludes Volume 6 and has a theme of “Open Windows.”

Click here to view the entire edition for free and compatible viewing at our MagCloud marketplace. You may choose to also purchase digital or print editions in various formats. In any case, we thank you for your support of In Parentheses!

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In the Spring 2021 Edition, our 20th release to date, we have featured the following esteemed contributors.

(If you are a contributor please click here.)

Poetry

“Open Windows” — Alex Andy Phuong earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University— Los Angeles in 2015. He was a former Statement Magazine editor who currently writes passionately. He has written film reviews for MovieBoozer, and has contributed to Mindfray. He writes hoping to inspire the ones who dream. — 10 

“A Horse with Horizon” — Writing in Ireland, DS Maolalai has been nominated eight times for the Best of the Net and five times for the Pushcart Prize. His poetry has been released in two collections, Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden (Encircle Press, 2016) and Sad Havoc Among the Birds (Turas Press, 2019) — 10 

“Singles Scenery” — John Grey is an Australian poet, playwright, short story writer and musician, US resident, recently published in Orbis, Dalhousie Review, Sin Fronteras and Connecticut River Review with work upcoming in Defunkt, Abbey, The North Meridian Review and Two Drops Of Ink. Latest book, Leaves On Pages is available through Amazon. — 10 

“Snapshots of a Haunting” & “More Time” — Eliza Knopps (She/They) is a Kansas City native who writes poetry about grief, the human experience, and sexuality. She lives in Kansas City with her partner Bryan and their fish, Tywin. Follow them on Twitter @enkwrites. — 11 

“Conduit,” “Soapbox Dancers in the Supermarket,” “Sober Underground” & “Limerence” — Eddie Brophy is a poet, author, and blogger from Massachusetts. His previous writing credits include poems in Better Than Starbucks, Ghost City Press, and Terror House Magazine. His debut novel Nothing to Get Nostalgic About, is available now on Amazon and wherever you get your books. — 12-13 

“Ruled by Sadness” & “My Darling” — Lindsey Bottino is a Grad student at Sacred Heart University. She graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor’s in English and a Writing minor. She is currently student teaching at a middle school and anticipating her Master’s in Secondary Education in May 2021. Lindsey has been writing since she was 15. — 13-14 

“Dulcet Tones Passing Time,” “Ash Forgets,” “Dulcet Tones Waking Up,” “Taking Flight” & “Dulcet Tones Rowing” — Kenneth Pobo is the author of twenty-one chapbooks and nine full-length collections. Recent books include Bend of Quiet (Blue Light Press), Loplop in a Red City (Circling Rivers), and Uneven Steven (Assure Press). Opening is forthcoming from Rectos Y Versos Editions. Lavender Fire, Lavender Rose is forthcoming from Brick/House Books. — 15 

“I Saw a Gaia in Your Still Life” — Andira Dodge lives in rural Pennsylvania where she enjoys hiking, photographing her landscapes through the seasons, and writing and sharing her errant thoughts – mostly through poetry. Before settling in the country, she worked in corporate communications in the city and in marketing at non-profit organizations in a small town. — 15 

“T4T Love Poem,” “The Other Side” & “Birth Certificate” — Robin Gow is a trans and queer poet and Young Adult author from rural Pennsylvania. They are the author of Our Lady of Perpetual Degeneracy (Tolsun Books 2020) and the chapbook Honeysuckle. Their first YA novel is forthcoming with FSG Books for Young Readers. — 16 

“The Bottom” & “The Right of Happiness” — Yuu Ikeda is a Japan based poet. She loves writing, reading mystery novels, and drinking sugary coffee. She writes poetry on her website. https://poetryandcoffeedays.wordpress.com/ — 17 

“Cantare” — Tim Moder is a 51-year-old unpublished indigenous poet, living in northern Wisconsin. He is an occasional member of the Lake Superior Writer’s Group. He is working on several books of pagan poetry, a cookbook, a children’s book as well as his memoir. — 17 

“The War-Mohandas” — Tom Crosbie is a Canadian writer based in Copenhagen, where he researches and teaches about military operations at a defence college. A sociologist by training (PhD Yale, 2014), his literary work has most recently appeared in Cape Magazine, The Maynard and the collection Noir Before It Was Cool (Weasel Press). — 18 

“Little More Than the Blink of an Eye” — John Tustin’s poetry has appeared in many disparate literary journals since 2009. fritzware.com/johntustinpoetry contains links to his published poetry online. — 18 

“Strange Eternities,” “New Mythology,” “Green Wanderings” & “Hard Candy” — Harry Edgar Palacio has been accepted to be published in Rigorous, Tule Review, Apiary, Storm Cellar, Quail Bell, Ice Colony, and elsewhere. Harry has a chapbook Ambrosia (Finishing Line Press) out now and a book Sutras of Tiny Jazz (Finishing Line Press) due to be released March 2021. — 20-21 

“Follows” and “Daylight, Light” — Massimo Fantuzzi is an Italo-British dual national, born in Milan. Educator, author of Marcia Gioie, collection of poems/prose poems. His work has appeared in Alba, Morphrog, Poetry WTF?!,Grey Sparrow Journal, LiteLitOne, Triggerfish Critical Review (where, since publication, he has joined the editorial board), Poetry Salzburg Review and Bombay Gin. — 21 

“The Compliment” & “When Asked” — Michael Ball scrambled from daily and weekly papers through business and technical pubs. Born in OK and raised in rural WV, he became citified in Manhattan and Boston. He has moderate success placing poems in Griffel, Gateway Review, Havik Anthology, SPLASH!, Reality Break Press, Kind Writers and OpenDoor 2020 Anthology. — 22 

“Pontification” & “Ten of Cups” — Robert Beveridge (he/him) makes harsh gutter noise (xterminal.bandcamp. com) and writes harsh gutter poetry in Akron, OH. He spends far too much time trying to teach six cats to learn basic cleaning skills, the English language, and how to vote liberal. Recent/upcoming appearances in cattails, Ellipsis…, and Ample Remains, among others. — 22 

“Action Man,” “Fragility” & “Ramsey Lewis” — Ben Macnair is an award winning poet and playwright from Staffordshire in the United Kingdom. He is a widely published reviewer, and poet. Follow him on Twitter @benmacnair — 23 

“Missing Pieces” & “Only Humans Know They Will Die” — Jack Mackey lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He was chosen 2021 Delaware Division of the Arts Fellow in Poetry (Emerging Professional). Jack’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Mojave River Review, 3rd Wednesday, Broadkill Review, Gargoyle, and others. Jack has an M.A. in English from the University of Maryland. — 23-24 

“Menus to Rouge” & “How to Care for Matilda” — Jenn Ngeth is from Seattle, Washington and is currently working towards her degree at Highline College. She discovered the craft of poetry while taking a creative writing class––realizing the importance of literature and vulnerability. Ngeth hopes to shatter the boundaries of the literary world––stepping into an unknown realm. — 24-25 

“The Burden of the Caged” — R. T. Notaro is a news photographer/writer/producer. In over 30 years in the television industry R. T. has been nominated for three Emmy Awards with one win along with two AP News Awards. R. T. writes on a variety of topics because nothing should be off limits. — 25 

“Poet’s Pane” — Jay O’Neal is a supply teacher working out of Toronto who’s been published thrice. He tries to keep his writing honest by writing about what he sees, but if he’s being (really) honest, he actually makes most of it up. Jay is looking to print his first book of stories soon. — 26 

“Break A Colander,” “Fountain Rollin’,” “B-Mo,” & “Bieres de la Meuse” — Phillipe Martin Chatelain is the Managing Editor of In Parentheses. He is a poet from New York City with a Masters Degree in Poetry from The New School. He writes as someone in the tradition of the urban troubadour or the flaneur–wandering, taking notes. He believes that poetry of our generation has taken on a much more digital definition. Furthermore, it is important for New Modernist writers like those exhibited in In Parentheses Literary Magazine to assume the forms of media available in order to carry on the history of Sublime Art. His series taking shots alone was self- published in 2012-2015. The self-published collection FACETS (2019) is now available. — 28-29 

“Ekphrasis” on Photography by B. Georgalidis — Mark Blickley is a widely published author of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Blickley is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and PEN American Center whose most recent book is a text-based art collaboration with fine arts photographer Amy Bassin, Dream Streams. (Clare Songbirds Publishing House). — 30-31 

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Long Form & Prose

“When Betsy Ross Tried to Pick Up Edgar Allan Poe in a Bar” — Maureen Mancini Amaturo, NY based fashion- beauty writer, teaches writing, leads Sound Shore Writers Group, which she founded in 2007, and produces literary events. Among her diverse publications: The Dark Sire (nominated for Bram Stoker Award and TDS Fiction Award, 2020), Burnt Pine Magazine, Every Day Fiction, Coffin Bell Journal, Dime Show Review, Flash Non-Fiction Food Anthology (Woodhall Press,) Things That Go Bump (Sez Publishing,) Film Noir Before It Was Cool (Weasel Press), The Re-Written Anthology (Wingless Dreamer,) Points In Case, Little Old Lady Comedy. A handwriting analyst diagnosed her with an overdeveloped imagination. She’s working to live up to that. — 34- 36 

“Morning Smells” — Kenneth M. Kapp was a Professor of Mathematics, a ceramicist, a welder, and an IBMer until downsized in 2000. He taught yoga until COVID-19 decided otherwise. He lives with wife and beagle in Shorewood, Wisconsin, writing late at night in his man-cave. He enjoys chamber music and mysteries. He’s a homebrewer and runs whitewater rivers. http://www.kmkbooks.com. — 36 

“Cats” — Emily Beck Cogburn is the author of the novels Louisiana Saves the Library and Ava’s Place. Her short fiction has recently appeared in Miracle Monocle, Marathon, and Dillydoun Literary Review. After earning master’s degrees in library science and philosophy, she decided to pursue her love of creative writing and began to submit short stories to literary journals. Six years later, her first story was accepted for publication and ten years after that, her first novel was published. When not writing, she takes care of a variety of animals, including two children, two dogs, and a cat who barely tolerates her. — 38-40 

“Once, Years Ago, and Blood” — Erin McNelis lives and writes in Pennsylvania with one husband, two sons, and three cats. Practical and calm are not words used to describe her. The seeds of many of her stories were planted while she hid under the dining room table as a child, listening to the stories of her elders, secrets that were kept from children about the tragedies of everyday life. Her fiction has appeared in Front Range Review and Luna Station Quarterly. She earned an MFA from Long Island University a lifetime ago. — 40-42 

“Gender Fluid Whiskey Sours” — Edward Michael Supranowicz is the grandson of Irish and Russian/Ukrainian immigrants. He grew up on a small farm in Appalachia. He has a grad background in painting and printmaking. Some of his artwork has recently or will soon appear in Fish Food, Streetlight, Another Chicago Magazine, The Door Is a Jar, The Phoenix, and other journals. Edward is also a published poet. — 42-43 

“It’s Coming From Upstairs” — D. S. G. Burke (she/her) lives and writes in New York City. Her writing has appeared in The Seattle Times, 3Elements Literary Review, and Revolution John. Find out more at http://www.dsgburke.com — 43 

“Frog” — E. P. Tuazon is a Filipinx-American writer from Los Angeles. He has published his works in several publications, most recently Peatsmoke Journal, Third Point Press, 3Element Review, Allegory Ridge, Adelaide Magazine, and forthcoming pieces in Five South and The Rumpus. He has two books, The Superlative Horse and The Last of The Lupins: Nine Stories and The Comforters. He is currently a member of Advintage Press and The Blank Page Writing Club at the Open Book, Canyon Country. In his spare time, he likes to wander the seafood section of Filipinx markets to gossip with the crabs. — 44-46 

“The Stuff of Stars and Dust” — Rachel Racette, born 1999, in Balcarres, Saskatchewan. Interested in creating her own world and characters and loves in writing fiction. She has always loved books of fantasy and science fiction as well as comics. Published in the anthologies The Spelunkers: A Chipper Press Anthology, Route 7 Review Issue 8, & Underwood Press Online Journal. — 46 

“Casualty of History” — Willow J. Fields is an aspiring writer, and recently received a bachelor’s degree in Political History from The Evergreen State College; his major having centered around Cold War era relations between the primary nuclear powers. Originally from North Carolina, Willow has become an adopted Pacific- Northwestener in Washington State during his adult life, but always has attempted to keep an essence of his home in his day-to-day life and creative outputs. He is always striving to find the connecting lines between distant subject matters, from folklore to economics, to better synthesize his passion for history research and love of fiction. — 47 

“Absence as Presence” — Kathleen Kelly is a mother of three living in the Boston, Massachusetts area with her husband and their children. She teaches high school English, a course on identity and social justice and professional development in equity. Kate enjoys family and friends, home, the outdoors, good food, comedy, and traveling. — 48 

“Standoff” — Cynthia Moritz is from Syracuse, New York. She is a fairly new fiction writer, having had one story previously published, though she has worked in the writing and editing field for many years. She also has a degree in mental health counseling. Her fiction is often inspired by quirky things she hears or reads in the news or from sources such as advice columns, urban legends, or Facebook. Her story “Standoff” was suggested by an item she heard in the news about two drivers facing off in a parking lot, neither of whom would give way to the other. — 48-51 

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Editorial

“The Ballast* in Belonging, The Anchor of Beliefs” — Elizabeth Wadsworth Ellis [sic] Waiting to be published is seeing all the other airplanes on the tarmac in queue ahead of you ready for takeoff. — 54-55

“The Painted Marionette Speaks: Postcolonialism and its Svengali” — Akshat Khare is an Indian poet whose experiments with writing are directed towards developing a post-postmodern poetics. He is the author of Delhi Blues and Other Poems (2020), The Book of Saudade (2022, PANK) and Truth Be Told: A Tragedy in the Making. — 56

“A Work of National Importance: Citizenship Revisioned” — Gregory Stephens is a writer-in-exile who has lived in Jamaica and Saudi Arabia, and since 2014, has taught Creative Writing to STEM students in Puerto Rico. His book Three Birds Sing a New Song: A Puerto Rican trilogy about Dystopia, Precarity, and Resistance was published by Intermezzo (2019). Stephens has published literary nonfiction in many journals, including Going South (Barely South Review, 2020), and Through the Window in St Lucia (with Janice Cools, Rigorous, 2021). Fiction includes Close to the Bone (Obelus), Taming the Mountain: Two Views of Gabriel, Wild Roof Journal (2021); and Making Do with the Residue (2020). — 57

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Multimedia

“This Is A Simulation” — Coco Spencer is a mixed-media artist with an emphasis in analogue collage. Originally from California, she is now based in Chicago. She enjoys collaboration. Her work can be found on cocospencer.com or @cocozpencer. — 1

“Letting in the Light” — Melissa Martini received her Master’s degree in English with a focus in Creative Writing from Seton Hall University. Her photography is forthcoming in Wrongdoing Magazine, and she hopes to share more of her art with the world in the near future. Her fiction has previously appeared in Zanna Magazine, Jalada Africa’s “Bodies” anthology, Camas Magazine, and Analogies and Allegories; her flash fiction has previously appeared in Pretty Owl Poetry, Bandit Fiction, and Dime Show Review; and her poetry has appeared in The Confessionalist Zine and The Daily Drunk. She currently serves as prose reader and newsletter creator for the winnow mag. Artist Note: “Letting in the Light” is a Polaroid photograph in which the Polaroid film is black, with the photograph itself being of a window with blinds and curtains covering it. The light from outside is shining in, through the window, blinds, and curtains – whether the window is open or not does not matter, the light still shines in. — 9

“Facing it Together” Series — Jack Bordnick’s interests are to create artistic, meaningful works of art that can be enjoyed by all peoples and cultures. Being a designer and sculptor, has allowed him to share my professional experiences, in a beneficial way for both business and community projects of this nature. He has been a successful designer and have over twenty years experience in design, fabrication and installation of numerous and diverse projects of this nature. An Industrial designer/Sculptor graduate of Pratt Institute in New York, where he has had his own professional design business and been a design director for numerous companies and local government projects. They included a major children’s museum, for the city of New York and Board of Education. — 11, 12, 50

“Onions” — Trenton Teinert is a fine art photographer working with mostly medium format and 35 mm black and white film he focuses on his hometown of Harlingen, Texas by creating agricultural and architectural landscapes. Author’s note: My work began as a look at the joy my hometown, Harlingen, Tx brings me. This grew into a study of the agriculture business in this town, it being the biggest business in the town of 70,000. Through the beginning of Covid-19 and the chaos going on at groceries stores, I drew the connection between the ones whos hard work is stocking the produce section in our groceries stores and my previous work. I worked more like a documentarian however. https://trentteinert.com/ — 18-19, 56-57

“Sheela na gig” & “Holier Than Thau 4” — Edward Michael Supranowicz is the grandson of Irish and Russian/ Ukrainian immigrants. He grew up on a small farm in Appalachia. He has a grad background in painting and printmaking. Some of his artwork has recently or will soon appear in Fish Food, Streetlight, Another Chicago Magazine, The Door Is a Jar, The Phoenix, and other journals. Edward is also a published poet. — 24-25, 52-53

“Through the Window: 100 Days of Quarantine” — Isabella Suell is a English and Anthropology double major at Millsaps College. Her photography aspires to feel as raw as possible, her goal to stimulate the viewer’s senses while utilizing the idea of “a picture is worth a 1000 words”. She has been previously published for her writing and photography in local literary magazines around the Mississippi area. Her goal during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown was to capture raw photos without leaving the safety of her car. Her goal for the year is to inspire others with her images, provoke thoughtful conversation and deep thought with each finished picture. — 27, 58

Photographic accompaniment for “Window Pane” by M. Blickley — Beatrice Georgalidis is the executive director of New York’s Bright Hill Press, a literary art center and gallery. She has worked for more than twenty years in film and television as a writer, producer, and videographer for many companies including Sundance Channel, MTV, VH1. — 30

“Morecambe (2016)” — Paul Castro is a street photographer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is interested in wandering as an artistic practice, the photographic possibilities and effects of chance and timing and the micro-historical texture of the everyday. He has published and exhibited his work nationally and internationally (in journals such as Afterimages, Elsewhere: a Journal of Place, Revista Torquato and e-Metropolis and at the Reclaim Festival, Chania International Photography Festival and the Glasgow Gallery of Photography). He is engaged at present in a long-term project mapping the city of Edinburgh that moves beyond the heritage set- pieces of the centre and suburban banality. — 32-33

“Contaminations” from the “In The Beginning” Series — Adriano Marinazzo is an artist, architect, and scholar. Their projects are interdisciplinary works that include digital experimentation, spirituality, music, and academic research. Has taught virtual architecture and contemporary art at the University of Florence. In 2014, invited to participate in the Venice Biennale of Architecture. Currently, a curator at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at William & Mary. These photos have been created during the recent pandemic. The current restrictions brought me to work in peripheral areas where human encounters are rarer. But even in these places of social exclusion, anthropization (and consequent visual contamination) affects our environmental perception. In these works, we see how electric street wires interact/interfere with our vision of the sky. We can understand how nature, like human beings, is easily vulnerable to contamination, especially in these challenging times. — 60

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