Congrats to Jia-Rui Cook and Makayla Wamboldt, our nominees for Best New Poets!

www.whaleroadreview.com/nominations

In a Hard Year, I Watch My Son Pretend to Drown My husband leans in to say, he’s doing it, babe,he’s really doing it. He means the singing, the song—the wayour 13-year-old stands solo on the stage,in the bright light, the way he doesn’t flinchev…

“he knew he’d need to fall for the girl,
in front of everyone, he’d need to go all in. […]
because he and the little mermaid
were not supposed to actually kiss
just get so very close. On stage, all anyone sees / is a prince”

Wow. @whaleroadreview.bsky.social
www.whaleroadreview.com/brock-2/

For @smokelong.bsky.social #FlashInTheFeed, here’s Cathy Ulrich’s “And I Still Remember How Your Hands Were So Much Larger Than Mine” — a story of sledding & dishes & memories & snow on snow on snow. (It’s still wintry here in Ontario!)
www.whaleroadreview.com/ulrich/
@whaleroadreview.bsky.social

Our heads & hearts are still SWWIMing after the wonder of AWP 2026 in Baltimore. We are so grateful for the time spent connecting with other editors, writers, & friends. @perugiapress.bsky.social @merliterary.bsky.social @whaleroadreview.bsky.social

I got to read with my boy Edgar Poe and @perugiapress.bsky.social @swwim.bsky.social @merliterary.bsky.social @whaleroadreview.bsky.social.

A true gift. 🎁

#AWP

“I’d never been so jealous of a cigarette in my life, so envious of ash, to glow from the touch of her lips, to fall at her feet and be completely consumed.”

@barlowadams.bsky.social opens our Issue 42 (the answer to everything!) at @whaleroadreview.bsky.social with a banger! 🔥

Good Vibes & Dark History Riptide by Laura TolandRico Press, 2025 Author Laura Toland recently launched her debut novel Riptide, a mystery/crime thriller that at its heart, is about a woman and a town with a questionable pa…

My interview with Laura Toland about her novel Riptide up in @whaleroadreview.bsky.social thank you @katiemanningpoet.bsky.social for including this www.whaleroadreview.com/laura-toland/

An image of Wadi Rum in Jordan - dusk - low sunset and clouds

Very happy that my first published poem is in the most excellent @whaleroadreview.bsky.social. I'm also very happy that this is my first published poem.

It's called "Running Hot," and you can now read it online:

www.whaleroadreview.com/schreiner/

Lake Catherine, Dusk The closer this sun gets             to the horizon line, the fasterthe lake flows east       &nb…

"Maybe it’s a trick
of light or perspective,
or the pull of night
with all its stillness
and heavy want. ..."

@jackbedell.bsky.social in @whaleroadreview.bsky.social www.whaleroadreview.com/bedell-3/

My New Doctor Asks Me If I’ve Ever Used Tobacco Products I lie because I don’t want my insurance rates to go up, because he has my family history right in front of him where it says both my parents died of lung cancer. Even if he’s too polite to say it, …

"At my most hideous, she made me feel beautiful."

+ "wearing my baseball cap"

@barlowadams.bsky.social in @whaleroadreview.bsky.social www.whaleroadreview.com/adams-3/

A poem titled, At My Aunt's Funeral, I Read in Her High School Senior Yearbook That She Hated Clichés, So I Decided to Take an Overused Phrase from the Service and Tell You a Story About Her The phrase in the middle reads, “She was a fighter.” "In the summer of my seventh year, I became fixated on water webbing sunlight at the bottom of a pool. 2We swam in my aunt's backyard—my sister, my cousin, and me. Aunt Sue didn't often join us. *She stayed inside and watched shows that featured possessed mothers, women's bodies drifting to a muddied shore, teenagers screaming for help from the bottom of a pit. Rhythmic almost, the same mistakes these characters made repeatedly, my aunt clicking on the lamp and muttering, I can't believe they did that, I can't believe they did that. Some years later, her liver would fail, and then her kidneys, and then her legs, too tired to take the stairs or pump in the breaststroke, and I could tell you why, but then I would be just like the pastor in his eulogy saying, fighter, warrior, a heart of gold. These days, I'm furious about the impasse of her life until I think of how one time-after I pushed my sister into the corner of a table—she told me she hit my dad in the head with a shovel when she was a child, blood dribbling in dark streams over his blond hair just after he'd been provoking her, and I wondered how she could make me feel so light despite my cold-blooded blunder, how I could feel like I was floating outside of the rubbery Intex in her backyard while we bonded over the horrors we had caused. Every question after that one drew me back to that feeling: How hard I could squeeze my lungs; how fervently I could kick my legs into a furor of foam. 1°How-if I prodded enough-fast my aunt could swim toward me if she was a shark, and we, the mermaids, fleeing from her jaws. "For a moment, she must have forgotten what was real and what was not. 12Gleaming placoid scales, her own lotus skin, molars-now-turned-serrated-teeth finding my …

I have a CNF piece about my aunt up at @whaleroadreview.bsky.social today. She unexpectedly died in November 2024. This is what I wanted to say about her at her funeral that I couldn’t: that I was so angry about how ppl spoke about her chronic illness, and how hard she made me laugh.

"We were adults in waiting, her with her English degree, me with my scars, neither of us ready to rejoin the world."

I really love this brilliant piece by @barlowadams.bsky.social in @whaleroadreview.bsky.social 💙💙💙

I’d never been so jealous of a cigarette in my life, so envious of ash, to glow from the touch of her lips, to fall at her feet and be completely consumed.

Do Not Miss This Incredible CNF👇💔
@barlowadams.bsky.social @whaleroadreview.bsky.social

“I felt the vinegared pride that comes with watching someone you deeply admire outgrow you.” I love @barlowadams.bsky.social’s work and this is no exception. This one burns down to the filter and leaves a mark 🔥🔥🔥. In @whaleroadreview.bsky.social

My New Doctor Asks Me If I’ve Ever Used Tobacco Products I lie because I don’t want my insurance rates to go up, because he has my family history right in front of him where it says both my parents died of lung cancer. Even if he’s too polite to say it, …

Wistful, thoughtful piece by @barlowadams.bsky.social in @whaleroadreview.bsky.social.

www.whaleroadreview.com/adams-3/

@barlowadams.bsky.social has a stunner in @whaleroadreview.bsky.social

"I’d never been so jealous of a cigarette in my life, so envious of ash, to glow from the touch of her lips, to fall at her feet and be completely consumed."
A dandy by @barlowadams.bsky.social in @whaleroadreview.bsky.social

Lake Catherine, Dusk The closer this sun gets             to the horizon line, the fasterthe lake flows east       &nb…

Very grateful to have a poem in the new issue of @whaleroadreview.bsky.social! www.whaleroadreview.com/bedell-3/

Super stoked to have a poem in this stellar issue! Thanks to everyone at @whaleroadreview.bsky.social, especially @katiemanningpoet.bsky.social for giving my poem a perfect home!

NEW Whale Road Review issue dropped!!!! 🐳 🐋 🌈

I’m so honored to read for this journal. Please enjoy and tip authors!

My New Doctor Asks Me If I’ve Ever Used Tobacco Products I lie because I don’t want my insurance rates to go up, because he has my family history right in front of him where it says both my parents died of lung cancer. Even if he’s too polite to say it, …

"I didn’t make a move because it seemed like trying to kiss the moon, so when she leaned in and put her lips on mine it momentarily broke the tides of my mind."

Dazzler. If you've not read it, it's time.

@barlowadams.bsky.social in @whaleroadreview.bsky.social !! www.whaleroadreview.com/adams-3/

"I didn’t make a move because it seemed like trying to kiss the moon, so when she leaned in and put her lips on mine it momentarily broke the tides of my mind."

What a great progression from the moon to the tides! @barlowadams.bsky.social at the new @whaleroadreview.bsky.social

My New Doctor Asks Me If I’ve Ever Used Tobacco Products I lie because I don’t want my insurance rates to go up, because he has my family history right in front of him where it says both my parents died of lung cancer. Even if he’s too polite to say it, …

Thrilled to have a new CNF in @whaleroadreview.bsky.social , a magazine I’ve long admired. Grateful to the awesome @katiemanningpoet.bsky.social for letting me dip my toes in the illustrious waters of this new issue. 🐳 🗺️ 📓

I'm so amused that I get to release Issue 42 when I am 42. :D Happy spring reading from Whale Road Review! These pieces might indeed be the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

The Sweetness in the Sour Moon as Salted Lemon by Clayre BenzadónDriftwood Press, 2025 Clayre Benzadón’s Moon as Salted Lemon is an exploration of the body and the self with all the sourness and tartness one could find in a…

The new @whaleroadreview.bsky.social is out, and my review of @clayrebenz.bsky.social's "Moon as Salted Lemon" is included. Read it here: www.whaleroadreview.com/clayre-benza...

P.S. If you’re going to AWP, you can find us at our offsite reading on Wednesday evening at Westminster Hall (Poe’s burial place!) at 7, doors at 6:30. We’re co-sponsoring with SWWIM, MER, NELLE, Perugia Press, and Cultivating Voices LIVE, and the lineup of readers is incredible.

Issue 42 Spring 2026 Poetry & Short Prose My New Doctor Asks Me If I’ve Ever Used Tobacco ProductsBarlow Adams Grace: First Date in Ruby & Meryl: First Date in Pink and RoseLake Angela The Lafitte, …

Please send some love to our contributors using the Tip the Author links below author bios throughout the issue. Thanks for reading!

@katiemanningpoet.bsky.social
Editor-in-Chief

www.whaleroadreview.com/issue-42/

@carriganak.bsky.social @pinkpossumclub.bsky.social @jennavvz.bsky.social @BarlowAdams.bsky.social @mkpoet.bsky.social @caseyreiland.bsky.social @wordsbyRB.bsky.social @caseyschreiner.bsky.social @hannahorsag.bsky.social @roddwhwhelpley.bsky.social @jackbbedell.bsky.social @swethaamit.bsky.social

When I began Whale Road Review a decade ago, I seriously considered naming it after Millay’s poem “First Fig.” I’ve also joked (but am I joking?) that she’s the journal’s patron saint, so I’m delighted to get to share this lovely light from such a special place.

Issue 42 features work by...

Issue 42 / Spring 2026 Our Spring 2026 issue is going live from a different coast! Today I’m in Rockland, Maine, at the birth home of Edna St. Vincent Millay, one of my very favorite poets, for a few days of writing retr…

Our Spring 2026 issue is going live from a different coast! Today I’m in Rockland, Maine, at the birth home of Edna St. Vincent Millay, one of my favorite poets, for a few days of writing retreat with Carly DeMento (another one of my favorite poets!).

www.whaleroadreview.com/issue-42-spr...