Susan Isla Tepper is a twenty-year writer and the author of 12 published books of fiction and poetry and 5 stage plays. Her new Novel titled ‘HAIR OF A FALLEN ANGEL’ was released by Spuyten Duyvil Press, NYC, in November. She has been nominated 21 times for the Pushcart Prize in both fiction and poetry. Her play ‘Crooked Heart’ concerning artist Jackson Pollock premiered on October 25, 2022 at the Irish Repertory Theatre in NYC. Adapted from an earlier novel, it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Tepper’s Novel Satire titled ‘Office’ has been released as a Second Edition by Wilderness House Press. Susan Isla is a Brand Ambassador for The Galway Review. http://www.susantepper.com

ICE FISHING

By Susan Isla Tepper

I have felt the cold press
between my knees
A territory
you have chosen
not to occupy—

Of course that is your right
tho’ I’ve watched you
on the ice
day after day
Your attention deep in the hole.

When it’s thawed and finished
where will you go next.

Photo by Phoebe Wilcox

Phoebe Wilcox’s first novel, Angels Carry the Sun, (Lilly Press, 2010) was nominated for the PEN/Faulker award. Her poetry chapbook, Recidivist, (Lilly Press, 2010) includes the Rhysling-nominated poem, “A More Significant Sun.” Three Pushcart prize nominations and one Gertrude Stein “Rose” Poetry Prize later (Wilderness House Literary Review, 2012), she is hard at work on her second novel, Don’t Get Burned. She lives in a swing state on the East Coast.