EDITOR'S LETTER

When I look at our cover art for Issue 6—the painting Sinking Slow by Cleveland artist Amy Casey—I can’t help but think of our current socially distant circumstances. The way that house floats all by itself in the forest conjures a sense of loneliness, yes, and maybe anxiety or even dread, but I don’t see it in a purely negative light. I first encountered this image before the COVID-19 pandemic, before the canceled events and stay-at-home orders, before the world as we knew it began changing all around us. Back then, I thought the painting conveyed peace, the kind of solitude required for artistic creation. So that’s what I think of when I look at it now—especially when I place it in the larger context of the writing that appears in this latest issue of Gordon Square Review.
 
I’ll be honest: It’s a bit surreal launching a new GSR issue right now. Usually, our launch is punctuated by a celebratory party. We book a local bar, invite as many regional contributors and GSR friends as possible, listen to readings, and raise a glass to the writers and supporters who make GSR possible. While we can’t hold an in-person launch at the moment, we can still celebrate all the fine work that’s in this issue. We’ve got robots, rivers, and roots, plus mothers, machines, and Medusa. Not to mention the wonders to be found among the lions and the fevers and the fables.
 
As always, in addition to writers from all over the world, we feature some homegrown talent in this issue. We’re proud to present the work of Northeast Ohio writers Brett Cortelletti, Dom Fonce, Molly Gabriel, and Nathan Willis. In our Spring 2020 Poetry Contest for Northeast Ohio Writers, final judge Kisha Nicole Foster selected Matt Mitchell's “but the wind blew me back via Warren, Ohio in the dead of night" as the winner and Nardine Taleb’s “For the girl who wishes she could be less different” as runner-up. “These poems,” Kisha said, “are strength.” Thank you, Kisha, for judging and selecting such fine work, and thank you also to our finalists and every last poet who entered the contest.
 
These poetry contest winners are joining excellent company, because—good news alert!—we recently learned that Inam Kang, who won our poetry contest last year, won a Pushcart Prize for the work published in Gordon Square Review. His poem, “meteorology is the science of remembering the sky stays relatively the same,” which first appeared in Issue 4, will appear in the 2021 Pushcart anthology. Congratulations to Inam, and huge thanks to Poetry Editor Ali Black and last year’s poetry contest judge, Phil Metres, for selecting Inam’s poem and paving the way for our first-ever Pushcart winner.
 
Prizes aside, a big part of our mission is to encourage and champion new writers. Our editorial mentorships do just that, and I’m beyond proud of the three pieces GSR editors selected for mentorships for Issue 6. Matt Weinkam worked with Jena Vallina, Ali Black worked with Anna Girgenti, and I had the pleasure of working with Yasmine Rukia. Please be sure to read their pieces and also their reflections on the revision process.
 
This issue includes our second Youth Outlet feature, which celebrates young writers from the Greater Cleveland area. We reached out to Lake Erie Ink, a local nonprofit that provides creative expression, opportunities, and academic support for youth in Greater Cleveland, and selected from their recommendations the work of Adele Metres, Jessica Chang, and Emily Stanciu. I think you’ll agree that these writers all have bright futures ahead of them, no matter what they choose to pursue. We’re grateful that Lake Erie Ink sent these young writers our way and, most of all, for nurturing local literary talent among our city’s youth.
 
Prose Editor Matt Weinkam and Poetry Editor Ali Black continue to lend their intelligence, generosity, and attention to this publication, and I’m beyond grateful to share a masthead with them. As we worked on this issue, we had some help from a group of prose and poetry readers for the first time. On the prose side, Matt and I were thrilled to work with Corey Miller, Aparna Paul, and Kimberly Rush, while Ali worked with Venus Davis, Kelly Konya, and Brandon Noel. These readers contributed to Issue 6 by reading, discussing, and debating many of the submissions that came our way throughout this reading period. I know I also speak for Matt and Ali when I say to our Issue 6 readers: thank you, thank you, thank you—you’re all amazing!
 
Thank you to the staff and board of Literary Cleveland for once again making Gordon Square Review possible. Thank you to Amy Casey for allowing us to use the beautiful artwork. Finally, thank you to all our contributors, submitting writers, and the entire Northeast Ohio community for making GSR what it is. This is a community I’m missing quite a lot these days, to be honest. But even if we can’t gather in person right now, we’re not alone—we have one another’s stories and poems to tie us together. So please, find some connections, some comfort, and a whole lot of creativity in this latest issue of Gordon Square Review.
 
Laura Maylene Walter
Editor-in-Chief

Laura Maylene Walter

Laura Maylene Walter is a writer and editor in Cleveland. Her debut novel, BODY OF STARS, is forthcoming from Dutton (Penguin). Her writing has appeared in Poets & Writers, The Sun, Kenyon Review, Ninth Letter, Michigan Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. She was a Yaddo Fellow, a Tin House Writers’ Workshop Scholar, and the recipient of the Ohioana Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant. Her debut story collection, Living Arrangements (BkMk Press), won the G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize. Laura teaches workshops for Literary Cleveland, blogs for the Kenyon Review, and works for Cleveland Public Library.