J. M. Scoville, from Volume 3:1

Raised on the southern coast of Oregon, now residing in the backwoods of southern Louisiana, J. M. Scoville’s work has more recently appeared in storySouth, Ululations, Starfish Poetry, Edit Red, and Ditch Poetry. In 2002, he was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Presently, one of his poems is appearing inside a poetry box in downtown Covington, LA.

Scoville's poem "Regrets" appears on page 30 of Volume 3:1. Below is an excerpt: I always regret

that's being human, I said, regretting my confession, giving her a measure

of knowledge usually dispensed for me alone

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Flip through Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1 to read Scoville's poem in its entirety!

R. W. Haynes, from Volume 3:1

R. W. Haynes writes in South Texas, where he is frequently reminded of William Blake’s assertion: “Without Contraries is no progression.” He recently completed a novel and hopes that this year the Muses will help him finish his second book on the playwright Horton Foote.

This is Haynes' second appearance in Synesthesia, and his sonnet"The Wrong End of I-35" was published in Volume 3:1. Below is a preview:

I asked the writing teacher who can't write To write me a reference to eternal doom
And send it to the living from the tomb, But she just waved her checkbook in the light And laughed...

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Finish reading Haynes' sonnet on page 29 of Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1.

Terese Coe, from Volume 3:1

Terese Coe's poems and translations have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Poetry, New American Writing, Ploughshares, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Cincinnati Review, The Huffington Post, Poetry Review, the TLS, Agenda, New Walk Magazine, Warwick Review, The Stinging Fly, and many other publications, including anthologies. One of her poems was heli-dropped across London in the 2012 London Olympics Rain of Poems, and she have a new collection of poems coming out in March 2015. She has received two grants from Giorno Poetry Systems, and she teaches college English in Manhattan.

Terese had two poems— "Sea Urchin" and "Inchoate" — published in Volume 3:1. Below is an excerpt from "Sea Urchin":

The sea urchin’s brain
has been overhyped

[...]

Only he can breathe 

through adhesive tubes 

that double as his feet,

and these may be found 

at the ends of spines

through which his toes can eat.

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Read "Sea Urchin" and Coe's other poem in full inside Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1!

C. C. Russell, from Volume 3:1

C. C. Russell currently lives in Casper, Wyoming with his wife, daughter, and two cats.  His poetry has appeared in the New York Quarterly, Rattle, Hazmat Review, and Pearl, among others. He holds a BA in English from the University of Wyoming and has held jobs in a wide range of vocations – everything from graveyard shift convenience store clerk to retail management with stops along the way as dive bar DJ.  He has also lived in New York and Ohio.  His short fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and for The Best Small Fictions.

Russell's poem "Skeletons of Sound" was published in Volume 3:1. Here's an excerpt:

You stand picturesque
among our histories.

I throw another syllable
to the canyon.

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Russell's poem appears on page 25 of Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1.

Kristopher D. Taylor, from Volume 3:1

Kristopher D. Taylor is a poet from Florida. He started Dink Press in 2014. His poetry has been featured in a number of magazines, including The Bitchin' Kitsch, The Show Me Doctrine, and Haiku Journal Issue #29. His chapbook A Sleep/less Night: A-Z is set to be released by Fowlpox Press. He is in love and can be reached at kristopherdtaylor@yahoo.com, or at kdtaylorisstillhere.wordpress.com, where he posts regularly.

Taylor has two poems—"one" and "two"—published in Volume 3:1. The following is an excerpt:

swimming in an ocean of foreshadow,

the professional dead man's

absurd theatrics

have gone unnoticed

[...]

for

who knows what socks

really go with that tie?

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To read Taylor's poems in full, sift through Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1 today.

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