Thrilled to announce the latest issue of The Mockingbird magazine has been printed and — thanks to a lovely team of volunteers — is sliding into envelopes and shipping out to subscribers.
This issue is for the wanderers among us! Our lead-off essay by Hannah Keziah C. Agustin tells of a spiritual exile in the experience of immigration. The scholar Lorne Zelyck imagines heaven with help from the Gospel of John, and Gretchen Ronnevik writes about the niche movement embracing “traditional” homemaking roles. We also have new writing by author Lore Ferguson Wilbert on the liveliness of dead trees; Peter Severson on living alone; Natasha Smith on grief; Ross Blankenship on the grace of lemonade stands; and Trevor Sides on adoption.
In a Q&A, the acclaimed poet Christian Wiman writes, “There is some sense of exile — from nature, from other minds, from ‘God who is our home’ (Wordsworth)—inherent in consciousness itself.” Other interviewees include author Sarah Westfall and Christianity Today’s Mike Cosper. Our poetry editor Andy Eaton reflects on the mixed experience of “following the Spirit” and “dying to self” — as a child. With Andy’s help, we are also publishing the most poetry a Mockingbird magazine has ever seen, from poets esteemed and emerging: Stephen Cushman, Jeffrey Skinner, Alex Brouwer, Mary Winifred Schwaner, Joel Kurz, and Dan Leach. Alongside lists by Mockingbird legends Paul F. M. Zahl, Bryan Jarrell, and Ben Self, you’ll also find a collection of down-to-earth prayers from theologian and poet Pádraig Ó Tuama. Regular columns continue from Sarah Condon and David Zahl.
