Cover Art: James Baldwin (Seat at the Table) by Jihad C. Dennis

Jihad Dennis is an artist, designer, photographer, writer, and videographer based in Akron, OH. A graduate of Pratt Institute, he started Jihad Paints in 2019 as a painting studio but quickly evolved to include web shows, music collaborations, and animation. His artwork combines mixed media and digital tools to create memorable energized images of celebrities, friends, and family. Visit his website or follow @jihad_paints on Instagram.

​​Editor's Letter |  Laura Maylene Walter

Poetry

You Keep Asking What I Want And I Don't Know What I Want  |  Amanda Stovicek D'Alessandro
Loki & Me  |  Maria S. Picone
Delphine  |  Melissa Strilecki
how to drive a tank and others tips for modern gentlemen  |  Clifton Gachagua
The Eyes of the Squirrel  |  Lucas Jorgensen
Transfiguration  |  Batnadiv HaKarmi
Skin Trades  |  Rachel Stempel
Chatting with Replika About Performative Language  |  Robyn Groth

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Prose

This is Happiness  |  Lauren Woods
Questions I Collected from My Father |  Christine H. Chen
Lucky Me  |  Katherine Markovich
Dream Mother  |  Andrew Bertaina
Sever the Head  |  Nick Rees Gardner
Original Mold  |  Duston Spear

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Mentorships

Stuck  |  Kirsten L. Parkinson (nonfiction)
Faith Fixed Like Stars  |  Victor Okechukwu (fiction)
Missouri River, Great Falls, Montana, February, 1929  |  Leland Seese (poetry)

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Ohio Writing Contests

Poetry
Winner: Slumber  |  Antoinette M. Wiley
Runner up: i dream of the deer / in marriage counseling  |  ​Vic Nogay 
Finalists: "The American" and "Keep Moving" by Tanya Davenport, "Premonition" by Cora McCann Liderbach, "Japanese Doll with One Eye" by Jill Riga, and "Sedona" by Hayley Snyder

Prose
Winner: Year of the Rat  |  Tiffany Graham Charkosky
Runner up: Darning the Space of Our Memory: From Burkina to America to Benin  |  Suzanne Ondrus
Finalists: "The Community Garden" by Pamela Cottam, "Bones in the Darkness" by Chad Lutz, "Elegy for a First Car" by Trent Kay Maverick, and "Mites" by Sam Paynter

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Youth Outlet
Cleveland School of the Arts

Netizen Written Love Letter  |  Michelle Martinez
Benclenies  |  Lily Compton
I'm a Shapeshifter  |  Thomas Smith​

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Gordon Square Review is a publication of Literary Cleveland, a nonprofit committed to creating a vital, diverse, and supportive literary community in Northeast Ohio. 

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