Summer 2026

Letter from the Editor

“I’ve always wanted to be notorious,” Mary said.
“You are well on your way.” Captain Hook said, refilling her glass of wine.
– Pat Murphy, The Adventures of Mary Darling

Although I don’t typically consider myself a person who gets writer’s block, I have been in a reading slump for the past few years. There has been a lot of happening in the microcosm and macrocosm, and to find my way back I returned to the kinds of stories that I loved as a child. A few days before going to the annual Americans for the Arts conference, I listened to an audio book, The Adventures of Mary Darling by Pat Murphy. The Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes mash-up features the Darling’s family mother as the real sleuth and hero of the story. It was so fantastic that I gave copies to friends. Just like that, I was voraciously reading in my hotel room in Albuquerque. I read in between my workshop sessions, during a few spare minutes at lunch, and at night before bed. Four days later, I had read most of a trilogy. And, what do all four of these books have in common? Fairies. I love a good fairy mystery novel.

Our 2026 Summer Issue is lush with stories across the genres that capture the magic of the season. Longtime readers will see some returning names, and this issue introduces new contributors. It’s one of our longer issues in recent years, and we hope that you enjoy it as much as we do. We know that there are many ways you could choose to spend your time, and we are grateful that you have chosen to spend this moment with our latest issue.

Please also join us in celebrating “Promise Me Something Sweet” by Moisés R. Delgado and “I Still Hear You Climbing to the Top of My Roof” by Kianna Greene which placed on The Wigleaf Top 50. Three additional contributors placed on the longlist: Kate Horsley’s “On Sunday, you wake up as a Firebird,” “Long Distance Call” by Lia Tjokro, and “Let’s say it’s the swallows” by Rena Willis.

On behalf of The Citron Review, we wish you a bright and dazzling Summer.

Sincerely,
Angela M. Brommel
Editor-in-Chief
Poetry Editor
The Citron Review

Image: Lake Scene with Fairies and Swans, Robert Caney, 1847 – 1911 (Joseph F. McCrindle Collection), National Gallery of Art.