Sarah Thursday

Conversations with Gravel is a collection of poems about lovers, heartbreak, and coping with loss."In Conversations with Gravel, Sarah Thursday dissects love affairs gone wrong with surgical precision. These remarkable poems spare no one. Thursday and her lovers each bear the responsibility and the sorrow. How to win while losing at love? With exquisite imagery and unflinching honesty, these poems show us how." -Alexis Rhone Fancher, poetry editor, Cultural Weekly

Incandescent Mind: Selfish Work is a collection of poetry, prose, art, and photography addressed to the self. Much like popular "selfies", contributors turn the focus of their work on themselves. Beyond the sake of vanity, these selfies are intimate snapshots of a contributor's personhood. They address the self of the present, past, future, alternate versions, or physical parts in letters, postcards, warnings, reminders, lists, and loving tributes.

Incandescent Minds: Issue Two, Winter 2017 explores the beauty and grit of the human psyche and what it takes to deal with adversity, to survive, to sometimes admit defeat, to thrive, to heal. This is a collection of joy, sorrow, confusion, and love, but most importantly it is a collection of life, the persistence to exist, and express brightly in a world that often tries to keep the lights dim. -Karie McNeley, Editor of Bank Heavy PressThere is beauty in strength, in fragility, in having the courage to face one's darkest fears and speak them aloud. Even as thoughts plague us, we construct a paper-thin veneer of normalcy that occasionally catches fire when the mind, furiously incandescent, burns too brightly. Those of us who have felt those flames, those who have fanned or ignited them, realize how precious it is when everything burns away, leaving nothing but truth. This second volume of Incandescent Mind fuses art with words which, together, burn more brightly. -Sander Roscoe Wolff, Author of Musings of a Dunderhead

There are many types of fires within us. Some have been lit from the outside. Some we are born with. When channeled, our fires can be a light. Whether the source be chemical, biological, circumstantial, or ancestral, many of us hold fires within. We can use the flames to shine from out of the darkness. However long the light may last, we can be incandescent. This collection aims to be a small representation of poetry, prose, and art expressing light created from internal fire, namely around the topic of mental and emotional health. Experiences with depression, bipolar, grieving, being a caretaker, body image, anxiety, abusive relationships, suicide, and more are all fuel for these fires. It is my honor to provide space on these pages for 71 authors and artists to share their light. Incandescent Mind: Issue One, Summer 2016 is a full-color, 8.5 x 11" journal of poetry, prose, and art focused on mental and emotional health. From mental illness, physical ailments, death, and loss, to PTSD, body image issues, family dysfunction, and more, 48 authors and 23 artists share their light on what fuels their internal fires. Edited by Sarah Thursday and co-edited by Raquel Reyes-Lopez, with additional support from Robin Axworthy, Jeri Thompson, Frank Kearns, Clifton Snider, and Keri McNeley. Available soon at the Sadie Girl Press Bookstore, Half Off Books in Whittier, and on Amazon.com.Authors and artists included in Issue One: A. Riding, Adrian Cepeda, Aja Beech, Alexis Rhone Fancher, Amanda Martin, Amanda Mathews, Andrew Brown, Anna Szilagyi, Boris Ingles, Brandi Conder, Brandon Dumais, Cat Brendel, Daniel McGinn, Darcy Smith, Donald Illich, E. Laura Golberg, E. Amato, Ed Baines, Elder Zamora, Ellen Stone, Erika Ay n, Garrett Hoffman, Jackie Joice, Jane Roe, John Guzlowski, Joy Shannon, K. Andrew Turner, Kara Dennison, Ken Oddist Jones, Kerfe Roig, Kevin Ridgeway, Kim Sharp, Kit Couter, Kristina England, Laura Saint Martin, Lauri Langston, Leah Mueller, Lynn Azali, Lynne Viti, Mariano Zaro, Mark Smith-Soto, Mary McCarthy, Michael Cantin, Michele Rene, Nancy Correro, Natalie Hirt, Natalie Morales, Nina Bannett, Nina Johnson, Ola Faleti, Ricardo Vidana, Robert Hoffman, Robin Axworthy, Roopa Dudley, Sander Wolff, Sarah Davis, Sarah Lim, Serena Solin, Sharon Elliott, Stephanie Barbe Hammer, Stephen Linsteadt, Steve Lossing, Susan Solomon, Taylor Flynn, TC Boyd, Tim Perez, Tobi Alfier, Tony Gloeggler, Torrin Greathouse, Victoria Griffin, and Yeggi Kaela Watts.