in parentheses

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The January 2025 Edition of In Parentheses is now available on print and digital platforms!

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 Winter 2025 Edition, our 30th release to date, we have featured the following esteemed contributors.

(If you are a contributor please click here.)

Poetry

“Mercy” — Mark Dunbar is originally from Columbus, Ohio, but now lives in wild Brookfield, Illinois. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Rogue Agent, Corvus Review, Bicoastal Review and the Ekphrastic Review, among others. He attended Kenyon College where he was the recipient of the American Academy of Poets Award. — 12

“Grief is a Florida Parking Lot” — Originally from the American Deep South and now hanging on for dear life in Ridgewood Queens, Caitlin Annette Johnson is a nonbinary poet, novelist, and artist with a BA in Literature from the University of Houston and an MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. Johnson’s newest project, Empress in Reverse, explores queer motherhood and all its fun and devastating peculiarities. Her work can be found in places like Folio Literary Magazine, PANK, and Constellations. — 12

“The Question” — Josh Lipson is a poet, historian, and psychologist, based in New York. His work has been featured in venues including Homonym Journal, Burning House Press, Petrichor, KGB Bar Lit, and The SHARKPACK Annual. His poem “Habana-Om” was nominated in 2019 for Sundress Publications’ “Best of the Net Anthology.” — 12

“I want to ask you something” — Kate Gross is a writer, performer, and social work student living in Western MA. She’s been a reader in Night Light Poetry series and her work has been featured in Beyond Words magazine and Wild Sound Festival. You can find more of her on Instagram @iwantareddress.  — 13

“Eponymous” & “Salt Mine” — Madi Huffman is a multifaceted creative, utilizing visual and literary arts to express herself, exploring life’s darkest corners. She is a southern born rebel hailing from North Carolina, where she currently resides. More of her works can be seen on her website at https://www.mannequinmadi.com — 14

“Nightenment” & “Sonnet of the Rain” — Lorena Axman Freed lives in her native Ohio. She received her BA in English from the University of Rochester. She enjoys gardening and paintball. She is a morning person. She has no publication credits as of now, having only now decided to publish stuff she’s written all her life. — 14

“We Stop Wanting to Grow Up The Minute We Do” — Megan Wildhood is a writer who helps her readers feel seen in her monthly newsletter, poetry chapbook Long Division (Finishing Line Press, 2017), her full-length poetry collection Bowed As If Laden With Snow (Cornerstone Press, May 2023) as well as Mad in America, The Sun and elsewhere. You can learn more about her at meganwildhood.com — 15

“Menagerie” — Katja Jackson is an artist living in Coastal Virginia. She works across different mediums, using nature, myth, and historical contexts to explore and express women’s experiences. She can be found counting bats, photographing night herons, and analyzing lyrics—she is in love with music. Her art lives on Instagram @xtreewomanx. — 15

“Unheard, but I Listen” — Winnie Sjoquist is a twenty-year-old aspiring writer and musician, currently attending Long Island University to study music. She grew up in central Minnesota, and fell in love with writing lyrics from a young age. More recently, she became interested in writing poetry as well. — 16

“Edge of the Property” & “Hands, Both Hands” — Travis Stephens is a tugboat captain who lives and works with his family in California. His book of poetry, skeeter bit & still drunk was published by Finishing Line Press. Recent credits include Sheila-Na-Gig, Wingless Dreamer, Orca, A Literary Journal and WILDsound Writing Festival. Visit him at: zolothstephenswriters.com — 16

“Appraisal” & “The Unimportant Notebook” — Frederick Pollack is author of The Adventure, Happiness (Story Line Press; the former reissued 2022 by Red Hen Press), A Poverty of Words (Prolific Press, 2015), Landscape with Mutant (Smokestack Books, UK, 2018), The Beautiful Losses (Better Than Starbucks Books, 2023), and The Liberator (Survision Books, Ireland, forthcoming). Many other poems in print and online journals. — 17

“Bassman” & “Cityscape” — William Heath published four poetry books: The Walking Man, Steel Valley Elegy, Going Places, Alms for Oblivion; three chapbooks: Night Moves in Ohio, Leaving Seville, Inventing the Americas; a novel, The Children Bob Moses Led, a history, William Wells and the Struggle for the Old Northwest, won national awards. He lives in Annapolis. http://www.williamheathbooks.com — 18

“American Dream” & “Wardrobe Under War Cabinet” — Emma Loomis-Amrhein is a trans writer and naturalist who is particularly enamored of birds and moths. Her work tends towards poetry but occasionally appears in essay. She primarily writes about the margins and marginalia. Her debut collection of poetry, evening primroses, (April 2021) is available from Recenter Press. Her poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes, and resides in over a dozen publications. She lives in rural, southern Ohio. — 18

“Not my Job” — James B. Nicola, returning contributor, is the author of eight collections of poetry, the latest three being Fires of Heaven: Poems of Faith and Sense, Turns & Twists, and Natural Tendencies. His nonfiction book Playing the Audience: The Practical Actor’s Guide to Live Performance won a Choice magazine award. — 19

Five Emeraldscatter Poems — Lindsey Warren holds an MFA from Cornell University and has had three collections published by Spuyten Duyvil. Poem collages by Lindsey have appeared in various journals, including Fugue, Miracle Monocle, The Rappahannock Review, Action, Spectacle, among others. Currently residing in Arden, Delaware, Lindsey documents a city-wide public poem collage project on a Substack titled Wilmington Is a Poem. The Substack can be accessed here: https://substack.com/@discostrawberry/posts           — 20-21

“Building Fences” — Russell Hoppenstein lives in Richardson, TX with his wife and three children. He has published two poems and numerous technical articles. — 22

“Mary” & “Lover’s Peak” — Lili Boe is Vermont born and raised but a dual citizen of Norway and currently a junior at Champlain College. Her work is inspired by horror, fictional and unimagined, as well as her own experiences and queer identity. — 22

“The Divide” A Found Poem — Madeline Ewanyshyn is a writer and children’s librarian who resides on the unceded territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim speaking peoples. She currently spends her time writing her novel, and facilitating children’s writing workshops and storytimes. She loves to write on the themes of childhood, family, and mental health. — 23-25

“Giantish” — Mike Sluchinski writes. Gratefully acknowledges the Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg Foundation and the Freefall Lit. Society. Very gratefully published by The Coachella Review, Inlandia, Poemeleon, Lit Shark, MMPP (Meow Meow Pow Pow), Kelp Journal, ‘the fib review’, Eternal Haunted Summer, Syncopation Lit. Journal, South Florida Poetry Journal (SOFLOPOJO), and Freefall! — 26

“Knife Body” & “Machachi” — Golda Grais is a writer and artist from Chicago, Illinois. Her works of prose and poetry have been previously published in Bar Bar, Pink Disco, Unpublished Magazine, Literary Juice, the Scripps College Journal, and The New York Times. When she isn’t writing, Golda enjoys cooking, comedy, and compiling copious playlists. — 26

“The Hearth Overflows” — Karen Lozinski hails from NYC and lives in New Orleans. She earned her MFA at CalArts. Her writing appears in Mantis, Red Ogre Review, The Dead Mule, Chapter House Journal, The Citron Review, 300 Days of Sun, ellipsis… literature and art and many more and is forthcoming in Defunkt Magazine. — 27

“Hummingbird Wishes” — tripp j crouse (they/them, Two-Spirit Ojibwe) serves as a poetry reader for ANMLY and Kitchen Table Quarterly, and has poetry published or forthcoming in The Yellow Medicine Review, beestung, Ink & Marrow, Red String Lit and elsewhere. Their first chapbook, “For Ever Dead Buffalo” (2024) is available from Bottlecap Press. — 27

“Pancake Memorial” — Michael Ball scrambled from daily and weekly papers through business and technical pubs. Born in OK and raised in rural WV and SC, he became more citified in Manhattan and Boston. As one of the Hyde Park Poets, he has moderate success placing poems in numerous online and print journals and anthologies, and being a feature at several arts centers. HeartLink published his Leaving the Party chapbook in 2024. — 27

“The Wedding Party” — Edward D. Miller teaches film, media, and performance at the City University of New York. He is the author of two chapbooks of poetry: The Rock in the Middle of the Road and The Moment and the Sequence. He lives with his husband and their Chihuahua. — 28

“I find myself in the in between” — Eileen Porzuczek is a creative writer, artist, and professional storyteller. Her poems appear in New Plains Review, The Raven Review, and Creation Magazine; one of her paintings is also in The Broken Plate. She is the author of Memento Mori: A Poetic Memoir in Three Parts (Finishing Line Press, 2025). — 28

“Morning Mourning” — Kendra Boyd earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in Poetry and Fiction at the University of Nebraska Omaha. She explores themes of mortality and what constitutes the self in her writing. Her poetry can be found in Clockhouse, Bloodletter, Streetlit, and Midway Journal. — 29

“Mood Break” & “Break This Security” — PM 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 and the collection FACETS (2019) is now available.  — 30-31

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Long Form & Prose

“The Devil Takes Care Of His Own” — Michael Tyler writes from a shack overlooking the ocean just south of the edge of the world. He has been published in several literary magazines and plans a short story collection sometime before the Andromeda Galaxy collides with ours and … — 34

“Terms of Abandonment” — Ellis Shuman is an American-born Israeli author, travel writer, and book reviewer. His writing has appeared in The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, The Huffington Post, and other literary publications. He is the author of The Virtual Kibbutz, Valley of Thracians, The Burgas Affair, and Rakiya – Stories of Bulgaria. — 35

“Population Regulation” — Sarah Tabbert is a professional engineer and mother living in Victoria, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Queen’s University. Her short stories have been published by online websites including “Diversity Hire” by Gabby & Min’s Literary Review, “The Toboggan” by 10 by 10 Flash Fiction Stories and “The Ride Home” by 404 Words. — 36-37

“Winter Solstice” — Angela Yeungyung Lee was born in South Korea and moved to Canada at the age of three. She went to the University of Waterloo and University of Toronto studying philosophy and psychology before dropping out to become a software engineer. She now lives half of the time in Costa Rica and Canada. — 37

“A Mysterious Disappearance” — Lilia Mahfouz began her career in comedy, performing at festivals such as Liège, Just for Laughs in Montreal, and Avignon Off. She received widespread praise from the press. Known for her fearless humor, she appeared on numerous French talk shows, sketch comedy programs, and even in a comedy movie. A proud laureate of the Society of Authors and Composers’ Writing Prize, Lilia’s work has been featured in French literary reviews such as Zone Critique and Marginales, as well as in international journals like Ink In Thirds, Fiction On The Web, Quail Bell Magazine, In Parentheses, and Literary Revelations, among others. — 38

“Deep Woods Lit by Snow and Indica” — Sarah Sorensen (she/her), MA, MLIS is a queer writer based in the Metro Detroit area. Sarah has been published over 70 times in lit mags, but her most recent work can be found in The Jet Fuel Review, Soundings East, The Route 7 Review, and Hare’s Paw Literary Journal. Sometimes she daydreams about rescuing every shelter dog in Metro Detroit, but she just has one tiny fireball of barks and an unstoppable cat son. She meditates, does yoga, and otherwise works at a low-key life filled with high-key art. Her work is forthcoming from The Sonora Review, so stay tuned! — 39

“The Man Who Builds” — AJ Coates is a writer from the cold tundra of Manitoba, Canada. In order to keep occupied whilst escaping the nearly year-long harsh winters, he took to writing, starting with screenplays for local theatre productions, and as since moved on to short stories and novellas. He has also graced the stage in several productions, and has held roles in several French-language television series that have aired on Netflix and HBO. He continues to write mostly in fantasy and science-fiction, but enjoys exploring all themes and genres. He currently works as a scientist working in public health, and as an actor. — 40

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Multimedia

“Needles 2” — KJ Hannah Greenberg’s poetry and art collections are: Miscellaneous Parlor Tricks (Seashell Books, 2024, Forthcoming), Word Magpie (Audience Askew, 2024), Subrogation (Seashell Books, 2023), and One-Handed Pianist (Hekate Publishing, 2021). — Cover

“The Sensitive Side of the Beast,” “Balancing A Breath” & “Diving Deeply” — 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, Door Is A Jar, The Phoenix, and The Harvard Advocate. Edward is also a published poet. — 6-7, 8-9, 44

“Long Shadows on the Desert Mountains” & “Black and White Tall Desert Mesa” — Joy Marie Curtis’ landscape photography vividly expresses her passion for storytelling. She blends research and imagination to bring history, culture, and personal reflection to life. Her fascination with the natural world is rooted in its ability to evoke powerful narratives, where each captured scene becomes a chapter in a larger story about human connection to place. Through her lens, landscapes are not static backdrops but dynamic, living spaces that reflect the passage of time and the influence of cultural and historical contexts. Her photographs invite viewers to see beyond the surface—whether it’s the rugged contours of a desert, the interplay of light and shadow across a mountain range, or the tranquil stillness of a forest. These images reveal the intricate relationships between people and their environments, offering a profound sense of place and belonging. — 22-23, 41

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