STORY BY STORY BY SOPHIA RILEY
There were three things I was determined to do during my fourteen weeks abroad, only one of which I actually achieved.
The first was to journal every single day, and I did. I scribbled down every trivial memory, everything that made me mad, everything I ate, and then I taped down every ticket, leaf, and pamphlet to boot. Goal achieved.
POEM AND DIGITAL IMAGE BY GLORIA NEWTON
After the fires in Maui, Hawaii
STORY BY JAËL GUEST
I lean against the stone ledge, gazing out over the city as the embers of the setting sun heat the rooftops. Behind me, the château walls glow with orange light. The bells from the magnificent cathedral spire echo in my ears. Below, college students sprawl among the spring flowers sloping away from the château, giving way to bustling streets. Even from here, my ears catch the whispers of conversations and the chatter of distant shoppers and restaurant goers. Drinking in this image, I breathe out a profound sigh of contentment. A voice in my mind murmurs, How will you ever return after experiencing this life?
Standing atop an ancient castle at sunset, it is difficult to imagine that only a few hours later I might be curled in my bed, stricken and paralyzed while clutching my head in sheer, overwhelming anxiety.
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JC JOHNSON
I’m a city person. I love the pace, the noise, the endless barrage of things to look at. I love to study the skyline, the museums, the lights at night, the people. Typically, I’m not too fond of the countryside. But there’s something about Scotland, especially the Scottish Highlands..
THE ANTHROW CIRCUS TEAM
We’re doing something new! It’s a podcast-light. Listen to our first audio conversation with the Anthrow Circus team. Our creative director, Jen, and manager of operations & social media, Armon, learn from our editor-in-chief, Kami, about the situation in Afghanistan since the U.S. withdrew from the country two years ago in August 2021. Kami and her Allied Shepherd team have been working to aid Afghans trying to relocate and find safety. Listen and learn with us. And then click on over to other Anthrow Circus stories from Afghanistan..
FICTION BY KAITLYN MCCRACKEN
Looking at the wren hopping surprisingly close to her shoe, the girl had the same thought she often had when thinking about birds:
My goal in life is to have the confidence of a Manhattan pigeon.
Except that this was not Manhattan, and this was not a pigeon. Alex (that was the girl’s name) remembered reading London travel articles the week before and finding an article about above-ground train stations using trained hawks to ward off pigeons.
FICTION BY DENISE CAMPBELL
IMAGES BY KAMI RICE and JC JOHNSON
“Wake up, Indigo! Time to start this journey you come here for.”
Aunt Mercie’s singsong call rushed in with the sound of the rooster crowing. We woke to a washed-out, downcast morning. But by the time Salome and I loaded the crocus sacks of groceries into the back of the pickup, the sun had put in an appearance. She’d landed in Kingston two nights before and had to make the trip with me to visit my sisters—Samira in Bog Walk and Claudine in Lional Town. Salome and I had grown up on the same street in Norbrook, in the hills of Kingston, and gone to high school together before attending universities in different parts of the world. Even so, we were bonded friends for life in the way Catholic high school compatriots often are.
POEM BY GHAZAL AL-MADADHA
STORY AND PHOTOS BY RACHEL PIEH JONES
Devil’s Island is a bulbous, volcanic island at the innermost part of the Gulf of Tadjourah, an area called the Ghoubet, in Djibouti. Everyone who drives the snaking coastal road from Djibouti’s capital city to Tadjourah passes the bay and comments on the black hill rising up out of the sea. It is tantalizingly close to shore, yet out of reasonable reach due to strong winds and waves.
DOCUMENTARY & PHOTO BY W.H.
INTRODUCTORY TEXT BY HEATHER M. SURLS
“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” This quote from Disney’s animated film “Mulan” aptly describes Maryam, Khadija, and Fatima Kawsary, teenage Afghan sisters living outside of their home country and still cultivating their passion for art.
