EDITOR'S LETTER

I’m writing this letter not long after leaving an editorial meeting with Jason Harris, our current Poetry Editor and soon-to-be Editor in Chief (more on that later in this letter). We met at Gypsy Beans & Baking Co. in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood—the same café where, five years ago, then-Literary Cleveland Director Lee Chilcote and I met to discuss his idea of launching a literary magazine. Gordon Square Review was born in that café, and now, five years later, Jason and I met there to work out the final details for the journal’s tenth issue.
 
Ten issues! In the past five years, Gordon Square Review has published dozens of stories, poems, and essays, including work selected for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions. We’ve read thousands of submissions from all over the world as well as many from right here in Northeast Ohio. We’ve highlighted local talent through contests and publication, organized write-a-thons, educated aspiring writers through workshops and editorial mentorships, provided volunteer readers with literary editing experience, and hosted launch parties in breweries, dive bars, donut shops, and the virtual land of Zoom.
 
Reaching our tenth issue is a milestone we celebrated by publishing some of the best work yet. Issue 10 is full of dream mothers, frozen rivers, and wine (a lot of wine, actually). It’s an issue draped in moss and centered on loss, and yet also it’s haunted by the specter of happiness—and that’s just to name a few pieces in this issue, which includes writers living as far away as Israel and Nigeria as well as several right here in Northeast Ohio. Our editorial mentorship program continues to be a unique opportunity in a lit mag landscape where editors are often too busy to, well, edit. In this issue, Prose Editor Nardine worked with Kirsten L. Parkinson, Jason Harris worked with Leland Seese, and I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Victor Okechukwu for these mentorships, which offer editorial guidance prior to publication.
 
In honor of our tenth issue, we held special contests open to writers throughout the state of Ohio, which attracted a slew of impressive submissions. Final judge Eman Quotah, author of Bride of the Sea, selected “Year of the Rat” by Tiffany Graham Charkosky as the winner of the Prose Contest for Ohio Writers. Quotah said this essay filled her with “horror and hope,” and that the ending was “equally surprising and satisfying.”
 
For the Poetry Contest for Ohio Writers, final judge Noor Hindi, whose debut collection Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. was just released, selected “Slumber” by Antoinette M. Wiley as the winner. “I loved this poem from the very beginning,” Hindi said. “Its tenderness, the movement of its lines, and what it says about love and grief is poignant and sharp…The texture in this piece is layered with vulnerability, sound, and precise line breaks that cut.” Congratulations to our winners, and be sure to read their winning entries, as well as the work of the prose and poetry runner ups, right here in Issue 10.
 
Our Youth Outlet selections for this issue come from the Cleveland School of the Arts, a public arts high school in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. We’d like to thank Elizabeth A. Telich, M.Ed., Director of Creative Writing & AP English, for helping facilitate the submission process. Finally, our tenth issue is graced by the artwork of Akron-based artist Jihad C. Dennis, whose portrait of James Baldwin seems a fitting tribute for this milestone issue.
 
Throughout our Issue 10 reading period, a talented team of volunteer readers provided support, insight, and perspective to our editors as we read hundreds of submissions to make selections for this issue. On the prose side, we were fortunate to work with Sean Freeman, Jessie Motts, Katie Strine, and Annette Tucker Sutherland. On the poetry side, Jett Caldwell, Camille Ferguson, Kayla Kim, and Varun U. Shetty helped read submissions. Huge thanks to these readers for their dedication to GSR these last few months.
 
Speaking of dedication, GSR and Literary Cleveland are staffed by the some of the smartest, loveliest people I have had the pleasure to meet. Prose Editor Nardine Taleb is a superstar who ran the prose section with grace, fairness, and good humor. Literary Cleveland Program Associate Michelle Smith brings a cheerful, organized flair to everything she does, and Literary Cleveland Executive Director Matt Weinkam continues to earn his spot as the best literary advocate and organizer around. Last but definitely not least, we are fortunate to work with Jason Harris, our Poetry Editor who is about to step up to take on a new leadership role at GSR as the Editor-in-Chief.
 
I’ve now reached the difficult part of this letter, which is where I find a way to say goodbye. Yes, after helping launch Gordon Square Review back in 2017 and helping bring its first ten issues to life, the time has come for me to step aside and let the journal carry on without me. Working with Gordon Square Review these last five years—reading submissions, finding new voices, mentoring writers, and putting together issues full of vivid, weird, and ambitious writing—has been such a joy, and it’s also been one of the professional highlights of my life. But as I embarked on new pursuits with my own writing career, it became clear the journal would benefit from some fresh and progressive leadership. Gordon Square Review will have exactly that in the new Editor-in-Chief, Jason Harris. As much as I’ll miss working with GSR (and I will, dearly), I couldn’t be more confident that I’m passing the baton to the perfect person who can put his own stamp on the journal and take it to new and exciting heights. Jason is a thoughtful, smart, creative, kind, and organized poet and professional who has the vision to become the best GSR editor yet. So please join me in welcoming Jason aboard!
 
This means Gordon Square Review will need a new Poetry Editor, so stay tuned to Literary Cleveland’s channels for more information on that front. As for me, I’ll still be here in Cleveland—teaching the occasional Literary Cleveland class, being a mentor in the new Breakthrough Writing Residency, and making other appearances as an author and instructor. Every other week, you can find me hosting Page Count, a new literary podcast presented by the Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. I’ll miss working on Gordon Square Review, but you’ll undoubtedly find me raising a beer to the staff and contributors at future launch parties. Speaking of which, if you’re local, consider this your formal invitation to attend our Issue 10 launch party on Wednesday, June 8 from 6:30-8:30pm at Brewnuts.
 
Thank you to everyone—our submitting writers, our contributors, our editorial staff, our volunteer readers, our partner organizations, our cover artists, and the Literary Cleveland staff and board—for making not just Issue 10 a success, but for helping Gordon Square Review thrive now and into the future, too. This work matters; your words matter. And I’m so grateful to have been a part of it.

Laura Maylene Walter
Editor-in-Chief

Laura Maylene Walter

Laura Maylene Walter is the Editor-in-Chief of Gordon Square Review. Her debut novel, Body of Stars, was published in 2021 by Dutton in the US and Hodder Studio in the UK. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Kenyon Review, Poets & Writers, The Sun, Slate, F(r)iction, The Masters Review, Ninth Letter, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. She has received grants, awards, or fellowships from Tin House, the Ohio Arts Council, the Ohioana Library Association, Yaddo, the Chautauqua Institution, and Art Omi: Writers. Laura is the Ohio Center for the Book Fellow at Cleveland Public Library, where she hosts Page Count, a literary podcast.