Nuța Istrate Gangan, from Volume 3:1

Nuța Istrate Gangan is an Romanian-American author living in Davie, Florida. Her poems are published both in Romanian and English, and her books are available online. Gangan's poetry is translated into English by Adrian George Sahlean.

Gangan had two poems—"still missing" and "our love"—published in Volume 3:1. Here's a sample from "still missing":

...I will always remain
a vague uneasiness.

some day
you will turn me
into a memory...

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Checkt out Nuța's startling work in Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1.

Jennifer Clarke, from Volume 3:1

Raised in Orange, Jennifer Clarke spent her childhood on the varied landscapes of Southeast Texas. The performing and fine arts became her focus in youth and remain so today. She worked as a researcher and writer in the legal field for more than a decade until dedicating herself to education. Being a classroom teacher was one of the most rewarding and difficult positions she ever had, and it lead her to support education, justice, and community activism.

For Volume 3:1, Clarke contributed an original critical essay on Franz Kafka's The Trial titled "Abandoning Human: The Proliferation of Indifference in Kafka’s The Trial." Here's the abstract:

While this unfinished novel has been studied from several perspectives including religious and bureaucratic, a running thematic element throughout the novel is indifference. Kafka creates a world, through setting and his use of characterization that is murky and surreal. K. is arrested, condemned, and never truly heard, but then again, no indication of what he should be saying is clarified because his charges are never explained. K. stumbles through a labyrinth of confusing and debilitating processes and never gains insight into his own situation. Through the character of Joseph K., paralleled by a court system that is void of compassion, Kafka reveals that apathy infects humanity, and failure to actively reject indifference can bring about devastation. The author portrays the inhuman through images of disfigured characters, filth, and dehumanizing circumstances revealing the true nature of a failing humanity. Self-preservation and self-interest are the top priorities for many of the characters, and there are no qualms about using and even destroying others to secure the self; however the characters lack the most important aspect of self-preservation—self-reflection, and so no progress can truly be made. This aspect of human nature is not new, and has not changed. Kafka’s insights into the world around him during a very dark time in human history are perhaps depicted in this novel and are no less relevant today.

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Read Clarke's essay in full -- Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1

Joan Mazza, from Volume 3:1

Joan Mazza has worked as a medical microbiologist, psychotherapist, and seminar leader, and has been a Pushcart Prize nominee. Author of six books, including Dreaming Your Real Self (Penguin/Putnam), her poetry has appeared in Rattle, Kestrel, The MacGuffin, Mezzo Cammin, Buddhist Poetry Review, and The Nation. She ran away from the hurricanes of South Florida to be surprised by the earthquakes and tornadoes of rural central Virginia, where she writes poetry and does fabric and paper art. Visit her personal website at: www.JoanMazza.com

Mazza had one poem in Volume 3:1, the elegant "Dimes":

silver caterpillar, shiny worm, living metal,

hold memories of hands they’ve touched.

I stack them up, play Midas like a child...

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Read Mazza's poem in full on page 13 of Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1.

Stephen Page, from Volume 3:1

Stephen Page is from Detroit, Michigan. He is the author of The Timbre of Sand and Still Dandelions. His critical essays have appeared regularly in the Buenos Aires Herald and the Fox Chase Review. He is the recipient of The Jess Cloud Memorial Prize, a Writer-in-Residence from the Montana Artists Refuge, a Full Fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center, an Imagination Grant from Cleveland State University, and an Arvon Foundation Ltd. Grant. He loves his wife, traveling, his family, and friends.

Page's poem "My Re-edification" appears on page 12 of the new volume. Here's a snippet:

here, there is no Professor of Ranch
no Dean of Land.

my degrees hang up on an unviewed wall.

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Head over to Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1 to read Page's poem in its entirety.

J. L. Harlow, from Volume 3:1

Author of the poetry books, Dragonfly Island and Mosaic of Ashes, J.L. Harlow has now had poems published both in print and through online literary magazines such as White Ash, Fat City Review, Surrounded Magazine, and Riveter Review. In her spare time she enjoys creating art work, drinking coffee, reading and learning about cultures of all kinds, and searching the world for inspiration. Harlow is currently working on a novel. She hopes to inspire and be inspired throughout her future work.

From "Emblem of Silence" in Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1:

Solace in silence, speech is an unwounded heart.

[...]

I have earned my medal of this hush:

A calming storm to lull me away.

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If you enjoyed the above snippet, navigate through Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1 to read Harlow's poem in full!

Rich Murphy, from Volume 3:1

Derek Walcott remarked thus on Rich Murphy’s poetry: “Mr. Murphy is a very careful craftsman in his work, a patient and testing intelligence, one of those writers who knows precisely what he wants his style to achieve. His poetry is quiet but packed, carefully wrought, not surrealistically wild, and its range not limited but deliberately narrow. It takes aim.”

Murphy has taught writing and literature at several colleges and universities. His books include Americana (2013), Voyeur (2008), and The Apple in the Monkey Tree (2007). He lives in Marblehead, MA.

Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1 features two poems by Murphy – “Distant Destiny” and “Modern Author.” These pieces walk a fine line between timidity and wildness.

From “Modern Author”:

Ancestors built houses using

symbols available from the dead.

Today, the box owner maintains

the windowless prison cell

when so much emptiness invites

creativity.

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Head on over to Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1 to read Murphy's work in full!