In 2019 I had the pleasure of attending my second ever LeakyCon. It was fun—I had reread the Potter books leading up, brought exclusively cute clothing, and bought way too much stuff. But one of the things I left with wasn’t physical. It was an awareness of a literary magazine called Wizards in Space.
While they aren’t currently in space, the people behind this collection truly are magical, and I’m so grateful that I got to meet and learn about them that weekend.
They (Olivia Dolphin, Riley Wackernagel, Ari Koontz, and Lis Hulin Wheeler) had a panel where they spoke about the magazine and how to submit. Like a lot of people at LeakyCon, they came together in different ways courtesy of a certain boy wizard. But they were making something that wasn’t related to him, in any way other than the fact that he helped bring them together.
Wizards in Space is an annual literary magazine. They open for submissions around a specific theme and spend ages pouring through incredible work to form a beautiful book. Issue 06 came out at the start of this year, and the theme is foraging.
The book truly is beautiful. Pictured above, the cover is a gorgeous sunset by Riley Wackernagel. Inside is a forward by Dolphin, WiS’s founder, that calls the issue “a collection of small victories.” I loved that because, while 2020 as a whole felt like a wash, it reminded me of some of the things that mattered.
The issue contains 37 pieces. There are short stories, essays, poems, and art. And they’re all so incredible. I’ve listed my favorites at the bottom, so if you have a copy or get one, we can see what we have in common.
I didn’t read this quickly, even though I wanted to. My brain wanted to ingest it all immediately, crack the spine and pour through the pages. But I took my time, and I recommend you do the same.
Since this is a collection, the pieces don’t have a through line. But I didn’t speed through because I needed to sit with each for a bit to absorb them. There’s a lot of power in this little book, and I think I have been lucky to sit with the magic for a bit.
My favorite pieces in the book were (in no particular order):
“Survival Kit” by Sadie Lappin
“Emergency Kit” by Viridiana Crespo
“The City and its Creatures” by R. Ruvinsky
“Thirty-eight Juliets” by Valerie Hunter
“Foraging for Calm in the Kitchen” by Valerie Bean
While all of them hit strong chords in me, “Thirty-eight Juliets” and “Foraging for Calm in the Kitchen” were my two absolute favorites.
Comments are closed.