Letter from the Editor

It’s too darn hot.
– Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter

As I write this, it’s 106 degrees in the Vegas Valley. Lately, anything under 110 feels manageable, and anytime it’s cool enough to sit on the patio at 6:00 am it’s a beautiful day. I’ve been thinking a lot about what summer means. not summer as a season but as the memory and future plans for activities we associate with the weather. Spring is the new summer here, and yet spring seemed like it was here only for a few weeks. 

Our Summer Issue is here and in many places so is the heat. This is our first issue with a complete team in quite some time. It’s been a busy two years with a lot of change for all of us. Thanks to our dedicated editors and readers, we are still celebrating short forms that shimmer, and in this issue we have more than twenty works for you to peruse. 

This issue, Zest  brings us  a wonderful interview by Charlotte Hamrick with former Citron contributor Shome Dasgupta, author of Atchafalaya Darling (Belle Point Press, 2024).  In 2020 we published two of his poems, “Bones” and “Know No Better.” While you’re there, check out our previous interviews and reviews.

We are thrilled to share that the following 2023 Citron contributors were included on the Wigleaf Top 50 2024 Longlist: “Mother Tongue”by Kik Lodge,  “If We’d Only…Well, We Might Have” by Elissa Field, “Fall Colors” by Stephen Tuttle, and “What the Tides Reveal” by Eric Scot Tyron. It was great to see the names of so many friends and former contributors on this year’s list. Congratulations to all of the winners and the journals that published them. 

As we were finishing up the final touches on this issue, I was already thinking about our issue this fall which will mark our 15th anniversary. Where did the time go? Whether you have been with us from the start or if this is your first issue, we thank you for spending this time with us. 

Wherever you are, happy reading.

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

INSET IMAGE ABOVE: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. “Print of a thermometer made by “Lerebours à Paris”” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1841 – 1844.

Masthead

Table of Contents

Poetry

Notes on the selections by Angela M. Brommel

Creative Nonfiction

Notes on the selections by Ronit Plank

Flash Fiction

Notes on the selections by Guest Flash Fiction Editor Carolyn Abram

Micros

Notes on the selections by JR Walsh

Zest

Find our best interviews and reviews.