A couple weeks ago, I was browsing the archives at Harpur Palate, when I stumbled upon an essay by my dear friend Mel Oliveira. Mel and I and another friend, Rachel (also an incredible writer), were in a writing group when I lived in Boulder a few years ago. After I left Boulder, I quickly got pregnant, Dominic deployed, and then we moved again to Florida. It was easy to lose touch, stop writing, and fade out of this writing group I loved so much. So it was a wonderful surprise to find this essay, almost serendipitously, and it lead to my being more in touch with Mel again.
Luckily, you don’t need to order the journal (though you could) to read Mel’s essay Crab Season because it can be found on Harpur Palate’s website. I wanted to have the physical copy on hand, though, because Mel’s essay is just so lovely, and I wanted to be able to keep it in only the way print copies let you keep a piece of writing. As a bonus, one of my very favorite poets, Brandon Courtney, has poems in this issue as well.
Writing life is lonely and alienating at times, so unexpected connections and discoveries feel all the more valuable when they occur.
Kate Gaskin 