Mitchell Krockmalnik Grabois, from Volume 4:1

Mitchell Krockmalnik Grabois has had over eight hundred of his poems and fictions appear in literary magazines in the U.S. and abroad. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for work published in 2012, 2013, and 2014. His novel, Two-Headed Dog, based on his work as a clinical psychologist in a state hospital, is available for Kindle and Nook, or as a print edition. He lives in Denver.

Grabois had two flash fictions — "Chac/chac" and "The Meaning of Marlboro" — published in Volume 4:1 of Synesthesia. Below is an excerpt from the former:

The gold stars embroidered on the Son of Chac’s blue robe fell to the ground and, wherever they landed, a corn stalk grew. Deer came and ate the corn and, as they digested, they became enlightened. They went into the fields. They approached deer stands where hunters chewed tobacco and drank bourbon.

The hunters looked at these deer and could not pull the trigger. If they pulled, their weapons jammed.

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John Brantingham, from Volume 4:1

John Brantingham's latest collections include Dual Impressions: Poetic Conversations about Art and The Green of Sunset.  He is currently a professor of English and creative writing at Mt. San Antonio College, in Walnut, California.  Brantingham had two poems — "Instructions for Swimming Before the Rain" and "Koi Pond, Norton Simon Museum of Art" — published in Volume 4:1.  Below is an excerpt from the latter:

          Lose yourself in the dream of hiding

          behind that statue for an hour,

          the one of the cougar with his elongated back,

          energy poised for the kill.
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Tom Darin Liskey, from Volume 4:1

Tom Darin Liskey spent nearly a decade working as a journalist in Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the Crime Factory, Driftwood Press, Mount Island, The Burnside Writers Collective, Sassafras Literary Magazine, and Biostories, among others. His photographs have been published in Hobo Camp Review, Roadside Fiction, Blue Hour Magazine, Synesthesia Literary Journal, and Midwestern Gothic. He lives in Texas where he tells his children that he has done worse things for less money.

Liskey had two photos appear in Volume 4:1, on pages 6 and 20.

Gina Williams, from Volume 4:1

Gina Williams lives and creates in the Pacific Northwest.  Her work has been featured most recently by Okey-Panky, Carve, The Sun, Fugue, Whidbey Art Gallery & Whidbey Life Magazine, Palooka, Great Weather for Media, Black Box Gallery, and theNewerYork among others.  Learn more about her and her work at GinaMarieWilliams.com.

Williams provided both the front and back cover art for Volume 4:1, as well as a few other pieces that appear throughout the volume.

Below is her piece "Middle America":



Anjeanette, Liskey, and Reynolds, from Volume 3:1

Anjeanette knew since about 5 years old that she wanted to be an artist. She grew up traveling the USA, and decided to never grow up and keep traveling. Her preferred mediums are Charcoal, Oil & Acrylic paints and Digital paintings and photography. She was educated at the Savannah College of Art and Design, graduating in 1999 with a BFA in Illustration, Magna Cum Laude. She has shown in several solo and group fine art gallery exhibitions in Houston, Texas, Detroit and Lansing, Michigan, and all over Tennessee. She was featured in a 6-page interview in Corel Painter Magazine, as well as several other small features in various publications.

Anjeanette provided her piece "Luce" for the front and back cover art of Volume 3:1.

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Tom Darin Liskey spent nearly a decade working as a journalist in Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. His first collection of stories, This Side of The River, was released in 2014. His photographs have been published in Roadside Fiction, Blue Hour Magazine and Midwestern Gothic. He lives in Texas.

Liskey's "Anjo" appears on page 7 of Volume 3:1.

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Ruth Ann Reynolds is a Northern California Native who takes the word GirlScout to a deeper level. Trained in Emergency Medicine, she knows how to “seize the moment” and capture images that are typically lost due to overthinking the shot. She’s lived in the Pacific Northwest for the past 20 years. Recently, she was a finalist in Oregon ArtBeats #OregonMoment contest. Her image was shown at the prestigious Blue Sky Photography Gallery in Portland in 2014. She’s relocating to Houston, Texas where she will be pursuing her lifelong dream in Cardiac ultrasound.


Reynolds' untitled landscape image appears on page 34 of Volume 3:1.

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Flip through Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1 to see another 6 pieces of visual art by Anjeanette, Linskey, and Reynolds!

Diane Gage, from Volume 3:1

A San Diego-based poet and artist, Diane Gage's work appeared recently in Facing the Change: Personal Encounters with Global Warming (2013). A selection of her Moon Haiku will appear later this year in a series of artist books by members of San Diego Book Arts. Gage was recently featured and interviewed at Blue Vortext Publishers.

Gage contribued two poems— "Picasso's Loaves" and "Bride Bared by Bird Bachelors"—in Volume 3:1. Below is an excerpt from the former:

His dark eyes focus

out the window, looking

toward the light source,

corners of his mouth

lifting slightly—maybe a whisper
of Giaconda in the lips?

Picasso and the Loaves by Robert Doisneau

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To read Gage's poems in full, flip to pages 38-40 in Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1!

Alan Britt, from Volume 3:1

Alan Britt served as judge for the 2013 The Bitter Oleander Press Library of Poetry Book Award. His interview at The Library of Congress for The Poet and the Poem aired on Pacifica Radio, January 2013. A new interview for Lake City Lights is available at http://lakecitypoets.com/AlanBritt.html. His latest books are Lost Among the Hours, Parabola Dreams (with Silvia Scheibli), and Alone with the Terrible Universe. He teaches English/Creative Writing at Towson University.

Alan had two poems —"Optical Illusion" and "Garden of Earthly Delights"— published in Volume 3:1. Below is an excerpt from the latter:

Those mysterious ergot dots sometimes appearing as beautiful monsters in Bosch paintings . . . Hieronymus, wild man of Western art, early surreal genius signaling
Goya, Dalí, Tanguy and Bacon. There’s a strange excitement upon entering Bosch  
. . . entering the brain of a beautiful heretic . . . almost like entering a house you’ve
lived in for 100 years, but suddenly rooms take on a fresh perspective, friends
devouring the fabric of sanity, dripping acid on the upper brain (despite God’s
pleadings)

The Garden of Eden by Jan the Elder Brueghel

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To read both of Alan's brilliantly orante pieces, flip to page 35 of Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 3:1.