EDITOR'S LETTER

Shall I tell you a story? About a woman who slipped away. On days when it rained she told her children tales of her younger days. And then a storm settled in her home that picked things up and put them down again where they didn’t belong.
 
I can’t think of a better introduction to our second issue than the lines above, which are excerpted from Yasmina Floyer’s story “Possession” and invite the reader into an imagined world of possibility, magic, and surprise. I hope you’ll feel similarly welcomed into new worlds as you read Issue 2 of Gordon Square Review.
  
In these (digital) pages, you’ll find stories, essays, and poems penned by writers from all the United States and internationally—as well as pieces from writers here in Northeast Ohio (including Rose Driscoll, Alysandra Dutton, Amanda Stovicek, Sara Ryan, and Stacie Williams). We also awarded three editorial mentorships to help guide writers through the revision process prior to publication; you can read the final pieces (“Further,” “Meat Sweats,” and “Inheritance”) along with editor and contributor commentaries in this issue. I like to think of these mentorships as the heart of Gordon Square Review’s mission to support aspiring and emerging writers. As mentorship recipient Ijeoma Umebinyuo writes, “It was worth it not just to get my poem published but to work on a more polished version of my poem without losing my narrative voice.”
 
Our first-ever Free Stamp Flash Contest—named for Cleveland’s ubiquitous Free Stamp sculpture—was open to submissions of flash prose and prose poetry from Northeast Ohio writers. We selected Melissa N. Warren’s flash story “Bees” as the winner and “Tease” by Kelly Griffiths as the runner-up. “Bees” is a haunting story that conveys abstract concepts like grief, fear, and love through vivid, concrete detail, while “Tease” exhibits imagination and subtle humor. These pieces, along with so many other strong entries we received, show that Northeast Ohio is long on literary ability, even (and especially) when it comes to flash.
 
As always, putting together a new issue is a team effort. Prose Editor Matt Weinkam and Poetry Editor Ali McClain worked tirelessly to read submissions, make decisions, edit, work with writers, and contribute to Cleveland’s greater literary landscape. Lee Chilcote and the Literary Cleveland Board keep Gordon Square Review alive and thriving through sound guidance and vision. Interns Alex Hernandez and Raquel Wilbon contributed to this issue in countless ways, from reading submissions to working with the layout, communicating with our contributors, and beyond. Literary Cleveland Fellow Alex DiFrancesco brought enthusiasm, new ideas, and a social media facelift to our journal. Finally, Kris Williams of Tiny Desk Design continues to make us look good, and we’re beyond lucky to have Christi Birchfield’s gorgeous artwork gracing our site as Issue 2’s cover art.
 
Publishing a literary journal presents myriad challenges and concerns, from the artistic to the logistic to, yes, the financial. Earlier this year, we launched a fundraising campaign and are grateful to have received contributions to help keep GSR running. If you find yourself moved, inspired, or otherwise compelled by a piece of writing in this issue, we’d be honored if you’d consider contributing to this campaign.

Most of all, I’d like to thank the writers who submitted their stories, essays, and poems to Gordon Square Review. While we are only able to publish a small portion of the writing that comes our way, we never lose sight of the vast talent that passes through our submissions queue. This journal exists because writers like you return to the writing desk time and time again to invest imagination and heart into your work—and we couldn’t be more grateful for that.

On behalf of the entire Gordon Square Review team, I’m thrilled to share Issue 2. Now go on and start reading—new worlds await.
 
Laura Maylene Walter
Editor-in-Chief

Laura Maylene Walter

Laura Maylene Walter is a writer and editor in Cleveland. Her work 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, the recipient of the Ohioana Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant, and a past Fiction Editor of Mid-American Review. Her debut story collection, Living Arrangements (BkMk Press), won the G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize, a national gold IPPY, and a Foreword Book of the Year Award. Laura holds an MFA from Bowling Green State University, is a contributing editor Cherry Tree, teaches workshops for Literary Cleveland, blogs for the Kenyon Review, and works for Cleveland Public Library. She is no stranger to rejection.