Our Tiny Issue can only be so big, but our inbox is always full of experimental, inspiring work! These are some of our favorite pieces that made a splash — even if they didn’t make it into the printed edition.
“Let the skeletons out of the closet”
Let the
skeletons
have a
tea party
on your
shins
Let them
tango
over your
toes
Let them
sing
Italian opera
From the
tip of
your nose
So long as
the neighbors
never studied
in Sicily
never
vacationed
in Rome
Bio: Bethany Jarmul is a writer, editor, and artist from Pittsburgh who loves chai lattes, nature walks, and memoirs.
Our Tiny Issue can only be so big, but our inbox is always full of experimental, inspiring work! These are some of our favorite pieces that made a splash — even if they didn’t make it into the printed edition.
“She came out to herself”
“In the moon laid man, brokenhearted again”
“2020 Year of the Rat”
Bio: Maine denizen Alyson Peabody can be found under the pseudonym Psychorama Mama on Tik Tok, Instagram, and Etsy.
Our Tiny Issue can only be so big, but our inbox is always full of experimental, inspiring work! These are some of our favorite pieces that made a splash — even if they didn’t make it into the printed edition.
“Confession”
“MallRat”
“Tide”
Bio: Liuxing Johnston is a Jersey based cartoonist and the founder of Lemon Liu Press, a small printing company dedicated to telling the stories of butch lesbians of color.
Tiny Talks is an interview series with Tiny Spoon’s talented contributors. This week we spoke with Ashley Mezzano from our tenth issue.
Tiny Spoon: What kindles your creativity?
Ashley Mezzano: I believe creativity is a work in progress. While I certainly look to events in my own life, I also try to incorporate news, pop culture, and conversations into my work as well. Even if the poem doesn’t work out, I get to think about my surroundings in a deeper way, so I think of it as a win-win situation.
Tiny Spoon: Are there any artists/ heroines/ idols/ friends that you look up to?
Ashley Mezzano: As far as poets are concerned, I would love to meet Torrin A. Greathouse in the flesh one day. Her poetry is so raw and focuses on the body and words in a way few can so masterfully capture. She’s taught me so much about my own poetry and perspectives as an artist!
Tiny Spoon: Are there any natural entities that move your work?
Ashley Mezzano: I’ve always been a “nature-minded” person. My undergraduate is in Marine Science and before returning to school or becoming a teacher, I was really lucky to have worked or interned in so many beautiful environments. I still think about my time in Maine, Alaska, and Australia a lot. I credit my experiences for a lot of the natural imagery I invoke from time to time, even if it’s just the more abstract concepts, like rebirth or cycles.
Tiny Spoon: We love insight into the creative process. Could you share what it is like for you, either with your work that appears in Tiny Spoon or in general?
Ashley Mezzano: In Tiny Spoon, my works “Ouroborus is a Woman” and “On Loving Your Wife, The Worm” are both about my experiences with familial love and self love, and how hard it can be to love someone wholly. In “Ouroborus is a Woman,” I compare my past to a carcass and blame my birth for the destruction of my mother’s peace. In “On Loving Your Wife, The Worm,” the worry of destroying love persists, but this time in a relationship between a wife and her husband. While the latter poem ends on a more touching note than the first, both focus on natural imagery that is rather unpoetic, such as vultures picking apart flesh or apple cores thrown haphazardly around a bedroom. My goal with both these pieces was not only to show how messy love can be, but how past experiences and mental illness can warp a person’s sense of self.
Tiny Spoon: Do you have any current or future projects that you are working on that you would like to share?
Ashley Mezzano: I have recently had a chapbook accepted by Beyond The Veil Press titled, “We are Creatures of What Has Happened” for publication. It centers around themes of mental health and recovery. It’s my first chapbook and it will debut later this year!
Tiny Spoon: What book, artwork, music, etc., would you recommend to others?
Ashley Mezzano: Oh goodness. Since I brought up Torrin A. Greathouse earlier, I’ll deviate away from poetry and talk about longer forms of literature for this question. I love generational stories and stories that feel like epics. I’d easily recommend Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, One Piece by Eiichio Oda, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, and These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card to anyone. They may not seem like they all share similarities, but all of them focus somewhat on circumstance, legacy, and generational relationships.
Tiny Spoon: Is there anything else you would like others to know about you, your creations, or beyond?
Ashley Mezzano: I’m incredibly touched by anyone who has read my work and found meaning in it. I’m still very early in the publication stage of my writing career, and every person who finds me feels so special because I know how many great writers are already out there. Thank you for spending your time with my words. I hope I can continue to meet your expectations.
Tiny Spoon: Where can people learn more about what you do?
Our 10th Issue is packed full of exciting artists and writers! Our blog is an extension of the issue so we can share even more experimental, beautiful work with our readers!
“The Fugue of Acedia”
“I’ll feel like this forever because the mycorrhizal network is too strong”
Bio: Kimberlee Frederick is a collage artist based in Portland, Oregon.
Find “I’ll feel like this forever because the mycorrhizal network is too strong” in Issue 10!
Our 10th Issue is packed full of exciting artists and writers! Our blog is an extension of the issue so we can share even more experimental, beautiful work with our readers!
Bio: Cha is a multi disciplinary artist who likes to confuse and push the boundaries of what’s considered normal.
Our 10th Issue is packed full of exciting artists and writers! Our blog is an extension of the issue so we can share even more experimental, beautiful work with our readers!
Bio: Pratheesh usually gathers poem-objects and found words from the homestead and preserves them all in a wooden box.
Our 10th Issue is packed full of exciting artists and writers! Our blog is an extension of the issue so we can share even more experimental, beautiful work with our readers!
“All The Same”
Bio: Julia began her exploration of collage as a therapeutic exploration many years ago & continues to find her voice through creating.
Our 10th Issue is packed full of exciting artists and writers! Our blog is an extension of the issue so we can share even more experimental, beautiful work with our readers!
Bio: Jackie Partridge is a mixed media artist living and working in Wellesley, ON who has exhibited throughout Canada.
Tiny Talks is an interview series with Tiny Spoon’s talented contributors. This week we spoke with April Hernandez from our tenth issue.
Tiny Spoon: What kindles your creativity?
April Hernandez: I find that a lot of lived experiences kindle my creativity: memories, strong emotions, life events, the media I consume, the places I’ve been, and the people in my life.
Tiny Spoon: Are there any artists/ heroines/ idols/ friends that you look up to?
April Hernandez: When it comes to writing: I really look up to poet Jessica Pierce, who was my high school writing mentor, and author Justin Hocking, who was hands down one of my favorite college professors. I also admire my partner in life, Gabriel Isaac Lakey, who is an incredibly talented videographer, and my best friend, SarahAnn Harvey who is the founder of Pile Press.
Tiny Spoon: Are there any natural entities that move your work?
April Hernandez: I think growing up in Portland and Oregon in general moves my work. We have so many types of environments here that it is hard not to feel influenced by the natural beauty of where I am fortunate enough to live.
Tiny Spoon: We love insight into the creative process. Could you share what it is like for you, either with your work that appears in Tiny Spoon or in general?
April Hernandez: As I mentioned before, I get inspired by lived experiences, and my poem “Recipe for When You Miss Him” appearing in Tiny Spoon’s 10th Issue is a great example of that. When I was in my junior year of college my brother Michael committed suicide. It was a lot to handle and I found that writing really helped me not only process his death but grieve him as well. I think the same can be said about my writing in general: I use it as a way to process my feelings about events that happen. Once I get everything down on paper, I usually will then type it up and make revisions and stylistic choices from there.
Tiny Spoon: Do you have any current or future projects that you are working on that you would like to share?
April Hernandez: In terms of my own writing, my creative nonfiction chapbook “Getting to Know the Stoveman” was just recently released through Bottlecap Press, and it is a project that I am really proud of. The summary for it is as follows:
“Getting to Know the Stoveman is a collection of vignettes that delves into the idea that love is more than big gestures and rather finding its warmth in the small yet habitual acts of care given by the people around you. After learning her estranged uncle has passed away, Hernandez helps pack up his possessions and in the process she discovers that their similarities run deeper than the blood that they share.
Through her sincere yet offbeat tone, Hernandez’s memoir finds love in small actions and encapsulates a bigger story using focused and simplistic vignettes. Her writing, while being tied to specific moments in her life, draws on universal themes of love, loss, and death that all can relate to and connect with, in both their happiest and their darkest of times.”
I am also the Co-Coordinator and submissions reader for Pile Press, which is a journal that publishes work by women, non-binary and fluid creatives. We are currently working on our sixth issue, so be on the lookout for the release date on that!
Tiny Spoon: What book, artwork, music, etc., would you recommend to others?
April Hernandez: As someone who reads as much as I do, narrowing it down is very hard for me. I would say one of my favorite books of 2022 is Fruiting Bodies by Kathryn Harlan. It is a collection of short stories that involve queer characters, typically women, who are on the edge of change. There are elements of fairytales, myths, and gothic literature that really add to the collection as a whole. In terms of a visual recommendation, I would highly recommend HBO’s The Last of Us. This is probably one of the best adaptations I have seen in a long time and I think anyone can enjoy it- not just those familiar with the game. Just go in with the knowledge that it is a very depressing but beautiful show.
Tiny Spoon: Is there anything else you would like others to know about you, your creations, or beyond?
April Hernandez: I am a huge bookworm! I absolutely adore reading and am constantly adding to my TBR pile. One other thing I would like to mention is that I co-produce (and sometimes appear in) some of my partner’s works, including his films. His first film that he has co-written and co-directed, “Punched After the Fact,” will hopefully be hitting the festival circuits this year. Here is a link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woOPQQIXLJg
Tiny Spoon: Where can people learn more about what you do?
April Hernandez: My personal Instagram is @april.alexis and the Pile Press Instagram is @pilepress
