Where did we come from? Where will we go after we die? What is the nature of God? Humanity, in all its faiths, has struggled with such questions. Through each individual poem, The Journey offers windows through which to view our human conceptualizations of the divine and our relationship to a cosmic creator. While we may see through that glass darkly, hope remains to one day see face-to-face.

A poetic journey through matters of faith, backdropped by the COVID-19 crisis, Love in the Time of Covid is a collection of traditional Japanese short-form poems that reveals the intersection of nature and spirituality. From doubt to conviction and darkness to light, the collection probes existential questions and documents life’s basic struggles. With honest glimpses at disillusionment and splashes of joy at recognition of divine truth, Love in the Time of Covid explores the nature of life, the reality of death, and the hope for redemption. The collection also highlights the unlikely friendship between the poet and an antiquarian of rare oddities during the pandemic of 2020 and beyond.

Nazi Germany: Hitler Youth members Hans and Fritz enter the Black Forest to hunt down a mysterious man in a toga. Yet after they eat magic mushrooms, things go haywire. Their woodland presence alarms the elf king, distrustful of mortals and enraged that the fairy king has failed to guard his borders due to a family crisis: One of his consorts has abandoned him for a dancing bear from Punjab, escaped from a traveling circus. Later, when the fairy liege and his elvish rival find that the accursed Poison Tree of old has awoken, they learn that their peaceful kingdoms face an even graver threat. The Poison Tree must be felled with a magic ax, requiring aid from the Moth Queen, a mysterious agent of divine retribution who kills violent men via moths and moth holes. In the end, only spiritual methods will mend “the breach,” the crack in a protective shield separating mortal and fantastical worlds.

We drew closer. I could tell it was a naked body, stretched out motionless, face down. Father removed the coverlet from his shoulders and approached the still body. He averted his eyes and threw the blanket over the form and began tucking the cloth around the exposed skin. Already, though it was not yet dark, a chill had entered the air. Father bid me help him take the body off the rock. Even in the dimming light, I could see her face! She was a beautiful, young maiden, bruised, bleeding, and barely alive . . . Visit ancient and mysterious lands facing impending cataclysm. Meet sages and mages, witches and exorcists, aliens and Puritans, and orcs and gnomes in this original collection of fantasy and science fiction with timeless Christian themes.

In this masterful collection of poetry, Dr. Anna Cates showcases her extraordinary prowess with open form and free verse. This collection represents the darker side of Cates's voice, perhaps the reader's most beloved side of any poet, with themes like poverty, insanity, crime, and war. This is a collection that belongs in any serious library of poetry today.

'In plain language Cates paints vivid pictures of the grotesque, the unnerving, things felt but not often spoken aloud. Poetry filled with earnest horror that engages the real and the fantastical, walking the fine line that separates the two."- Jean-Paul L. Garnier, Editor, Star*Line

A first collection of English-language haibun by American poet Anna Cates.

A collection of haiku by Ohio poets, past and present.

Though originally meant as a stand-alone anthology, the Bardic Tales and Sage Advice collection has evolved into an annual celebration of speculative fiction. Our Eighth installment of the series features the winners of our annual charity writing competition and our Reader's Choice Awards poll.