Portrait Gallery: The Class of 2024 / Joel Savishinsky


Joel’s poem is one of three winning poems from 3rd Wednesday’s annual poetry contest. Contest judge, Marilyn L. Taylor said: “Here the concept of human mortality is explored in vivid, human terms, using the poet’s own recollections of friends, acquaintances, and miscellaneous others who may have pre-deceased him, but who somehow do not die. Against the background of his “private necropolis”, the speaker comes to a breathtaking — and genuinely disturbing — conclusion. Extremely well conceived and well expressed.”

Through the Window / Toby Hecht

THechtPhotoToby Tucker Hecht is a writer and scientist who lives and works in Bethesda, Maryland. At least forty of her stories have been published either in print or in online literary journals. A native New Yorker with a rather traditional life, she writes fiction to explore more exciting lives than her own. She is now working on a collection of short stories, and a series of linked short stories.

https://tobythecht.substack.com/

Outside Freezer / Neil Jacobs

NeilJacobsNeil Jacobs’ thirty-year career as a psychologist working with leaders, teams, and organizations causes him to reflect daily on the complexity of the human condition. He carries this into his writing. Neil’s evolution as a writer has been informed by workshops at the Fine Art Works Center in Provincetown, MA under the tutelage of authors such as Garrard Conley and Mira Jacob, and writing courses at Grub Street in Boston. He recently finished his first novel, a family saga between two sets of neighbors set in the North of England.

Last Ride / Shawn Yager

Shawn Yager is an educator who lives in the Monadnock Region of southwestern New Hampshire. He has previously published flash, short stories, and poems both online and in print. He considers himself a “pantser” who tries to write rough drafts as spontaneously as possible. Of course, this produces many false-starts and much hair-pulling.