By Stephanie Couchell | “Healing is not linear, and life is very much a work in progress.”

By Bernard DeCunha | “Making friends is so much harder as an adult, and the fear of rejection makes it worse.”

Theresa Okokon awarded 2023 Black Writer Fellowship at Follow Your Art Community Studios

By Gregory F. DeLaurier | “He knew the forest would be back to greet him in a few months, green and lush, but he was never certain of this, as nothing is permanent.”

By Brad Wall and Heidi Reynolds | “Here we go into tranquility with the silence/Of our voices and troubles melting away without violence.”

By Cameron Dryden and Sara Gravante | “When you breathe in, I breathe out. When you need succor from sun, wind, or rain, I oblige.”

By Chiara Pieri and Aimee Robinson | “The day you were born/You were destined for greatness/Lyrical Justice.”

By Olivia Frakt | “As a young person, there’s a lot of pressure to look and act a certain way, making creative outlets like writing and producing art vital to self-expression.”

By Anne E. Macdonald | “Each time I drive down the road, I hope that the garden has miraculously returned. And each time I’m greeted by the flat, green lawn where the garden once was.”

By Katy Kennedy | “Maybe we don’t understand the resiliency of people/Fight or flight, leave or stay/people bringing to life/stories of ambiguous losses and courageous actions”