Welcome to our Spring 2019 issue! Well, technically, it’s not spring quite yet (especially not in the Pacific Northwest), but I’m ready for icy winds to yield to balmier breezes, relatively speaking. Whatever the weather, though, I’m glad you’ve dropped by. Lots here to beguile you, I believe, whether you’re snowed in or not. ☺

Gotta share some wonderful news with you, in case you’ve not heard yet: Two of the works we nominated last year for the new anthology series Best Microfiction were selected for reprinting in the debut issue. Congratulations! to Roberta Beary (“Swimming in Circles”) and Kathleen McGookey (“You Can Find Joy in Doing Laundry”)—and to all of the other writers whose fine fictions will appear in this cool new anthology.

Trees Please!

Now, on to this amazing issue of KYSO Flash (aka, KF-11), whose unofficial theme is:

⚡ Trees Please, named after the marvelous essay by my co-editor, Jack Cooper. Which explains why you’ll discover so many images of and references to “our tall, green friends” in KF-11.

⚡ And I’d like to highlight the image of a particular tree, as well as the results of The DavenTree Ekphrastic Writing Challenge—which includes not only poems, but also hybrid forms and fiction. We received 50 works of various genres in response to our challenge, with its visual prompt of a remarkable tree drawn by multi-genre writer Steve Davenport. He was kind enough to select the Winner from a pool of ten semi-finalists which Jack and I had chosen.

Be sure to check out Steve’s commentary, too: (“Another cup of Mad Hatter, please”:) Judging The DavenTree Challenge.

More Fiction Than Ever!

⚡ Especially for story fans, we have quite a bumper crop for you here in KF-11. Grab a bucket and pick yourself a bounty: 14 flash fictions by 10 writers, 20 micro-fictions by 14 writers, and 11 hybrid forms (haibun stories and tanka tales) by nine writers. (Of the total of 26 writers, 12 are new to KYSO Flash.)

⚡ Although Karen Petersen has published her fictions and poems in numerous venues worldwide, The Gaucho is her first foray into haibun territory, and we’re pleased and honored to be first to publish it. We hope to see more of her writing, including haibun stories like this one, in future issues.

Poems and Poetic Hybrids Galore!

Dozens, in fact, from seasoned writers like Doug Anderson, Tim Hawkins, Elizabeth Kerlikowske, John Olson, and Alexis Rotella—to name only a few—to emerging writers like Carrie Close, Linda Petrucelli, Laura Rose, and Nan Rubin.

Drawings and Paintings and Photographs, Oh My!

KF-11 delivers our largest ever bouquet of noteworthy Visual Arts.

⚡ In part, because we include a chapbook-length selection of artworks and micro-poems by our Featured Artist An Mayou.

⚡ In part as well, because we offer a veritable feast of ekphrastic works of multiple genres, including the ten works inspired by The DavenTree, plus 22 others by a dozen additional writers. We believe you’ll agree, this impressive collection represents a remarkable range of subjects, styles, and forms.

⚡ Take a look at this rarity—the only one I’ve ever seen: an ekphrastic limerick prose!—Jack Cooper’s Demon Moth.

(Note: Of the 18 visual artists here in KF-11, ten are new to KYSO Flash.)

Changes re Color Printing...

One more reason for our generous offering of artworks in this issue: We’re expanding our Visual Arts section in general. In addition to color art, we aim to publish more black-and-white and/or grayscale artworks, in particular those we think will reproduce well in our print anthology—which, beginning with this year’s volume, will no longer be printed in color. Printing in grayscale is far less budget-busting. The anthology covers will still be in color, of course, and so will our website.

Also due to budgetary considerations, I will no longer be mailing out contributor copies myself; instead, I plan to move the book-mailing operations to Amazon, which will take care of packaging and shipping. There may be a kink or two to work out during the transition, but I hope that folks will bear with me.

Thank you!

Deep bows of appreciation to my co-editor, Jack Cooper, for all of his time, care, and contributions to this issue. Heartfelt thanks as well to Steve Davenport for the green light to publish his drawing and to run The DavenTree contest, for his careful consideration of the pool of semi-finalists, and for writing “a few celebratory words” afterward (his commentary).

And to our splendid contributors and readers, our deepest thanks! ♥

If you’re on Facebook, please consider supporting KYSO Flash—and the 350+ writers and artists whose works we’ve published—by “liking” our Facebook page and by sharing our link with your friends, family, colleagues, and beyond.

Thanks so much for dropping by. As always, we appreciate your visits here and we hope you find much to enjoy on our menu...