Issue One: Fall 2016

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Dear reader,

Thank you, for dropping by our website. Whether you’ve been following Burnt Pine since we went live earlier this year, or are checking us out for the first time, your virtual presence and readership is greatly appreciated.

When I began thinking about creating Burnt Pine Magazine, it seemed quite far-fetched. In fact, it was more of a fun distraction from the studying I should have been doing during my final semester of college, rather than a serious consideration. However, I have always been intrigued by big ideas and seen myself as someone who can pull off risky and challenging endeavors. Therefore, as my mind brooded over the possibility of this idea becoming reality my planning quickly shifted from amusing distraction to a serious mission.

It has been roughly six months since the plotting for this magazine first began, and Taylor and I have managed to produce an incendiary debut issue in that short time. It was a grassroots effort, driven largely by social media. We started slowly, relying on writers to look beyond our inexperience as editors, and to trust that we knew a thing or two about how to judge good writing. I would be lying if I said I did not fear the possibility that we would not receive enough submissions, if any. Yet, I was blown away by the number of submission we had, and I was humbled that so many would take a chance on Burnt Pine and entrust their work to us. It resulted in us having a wide range of quality work to publish, and I could not ask for a better collection of writing to be the first representation of Burnt Pine Magazine.

Inside this issue you will find work that smolders beneath the surface, which implores you look deeper to find the meaning. I myself am still unsure as to whether I fully understand “My Three Other Fathers.” To contrast the subtle heat, other pieces blaze white-hot in the canopy of our imagination’s and emotion’s. The story “Trying” is such a piece, it engulfed my mind and made me feel as vulnerable as the main character. “Candles for Orlando” seemed both a timely and necessary piece to include with the tragic shootings in Orlando still fresh in our minds. It offers a voice of solidarity for the victims and their families, despite how far removed from the afflicted individuals we may be. Ultimately, each piece in this issue earned its spot by making us feel changed in some way once we reached the final word. I hope that you can find a poem or story that does that for you, whether it makes you smile all day, or leaves you questioning your position in the world.

I started down this path with the mindset of “if I can’t be hired by them, I shall join them!” Burnt Pine Magazine is as aesthetically pleasing as any online litzine currently out there. Our platform of producing “literature that burns like wildfire,” is as unique, honorable, and worthy as the most established journal’s call to action. The work we have published in this first issue lives up to our standard. We are proud to promote each piece and we are excited to share the issue with the literary world. So, I believe we have indeed joined the literary field of publishing, and I don’t expect Burnt Pine to disintegrate any time soon.

Happy reading, and enjoy the fire!

Alexander Opgenorth
Burnt Pine Magazine

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Fiction

“Trying” by Syche Phillips
“More” by Boris Jenkins
“A Matter of Course” by Tyler Julian
“Holy Ghost Sunday” by Travis Turner
“Dirt” by Kyle Schmidt
“Noctilionidae” by Jen Corrigan
“But I didn’t do anything!” by Michael Heiss

Nonfiction

“Self-Preservation” by Kevin Brown
“Latte for my Batte” by Audrey Wick
“Candles for Orlando” by Tonie Bear
“Wasted? So is Your Life” by Jacqueline Kirkpatrick
“Where I’m From” Edith Fouser

Poetry

“Landlord” by Frances Mac
“Aleyna” by Carl Boon
“Clarity” by Ian Williams
“Nod Brook” by Cynthia Anderson
“The Circle We Share” by S. Michael Kozubek
“Too swift,” by Melissa Atkinson Mercer
“My Three Other Fathers” by Jeffrey MacLachlan
“The Night of Broken Glass” by Daniel Beilman
“Hobbits Sing a Mushroom Song” by Angelica Kingsley
“An Ordinary Apple” by Tonie Bear
“Scarecrow” by Alan Montes
“i think of you in terms of hysteria” by Weasel

 

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