Pay no attention to the calendar -- we're still celebrating our November issue over here! And what an issue it is. We're so thrilled to bring you this month's featured poem, "An Extra Heart," by Justin Jannise. And not only is Justin known for his wonderful poetry, but he's also pretty known for his shirt collection. Recently, Justin shared with us a peek at his collection and just one thing about "An Extra Heart:"

"My poem owes a debt to a Subreddit called r/2healthbars, which is named after this vid...

We're still celebrating our unofficial wrestling issue, thanks to Tyler Dunning's excellent memoir, "Learning How to Fall." Tyler shared with us a drawing of skullcap by artist Alyssa Dennis and just one thing about the inspiration behind "Learning to Fall" -- and it's probably not what you were thinking:

Skullcap drawing by Alyssa Dennis

"Two years ago a fellow writer and I resolved to select herbaceous plants each week to act as inspiration for micro-essays. What bloomed was an exquisite corpse of bi...

This month's featured artwork comes from Ashley Carlson. We're captivated by her use of color and the mood of her work. She recently took the time to share with us how her home state of Idaho has influenced her art and what's next for her:

The Crossing

How does place function in your work? How has it influenced you, and has that influence evolved over time?

The function of place within my work provides a setting for subject matter and an insight into my personal background and experiences. Often the pla...

We are thrilled to share the results of the Split Lip Poetry Contest Vol. 1! We received so many wonderful entries, and narrowing down to a final 10 to send to judge Paige Lewis was no easy feat. Of those ten finalists, Paige has chosen the first, second and third place winners. Here's what Paige had to say about each poem:

1st place:

“Why I Waited to Report”

by Ellie Black

There were so many moments in this poem that made me take a deep breath before continuing. What I found especially striking is...

This issue has turned into our unofficial wrestling issue, thanks in part to Jakob Guanzon's fantastic story, "Repent, Macho Man Randy Savage" -- recently selected as Longform Fiction's pick of the week! Here, Jakob shares his Randy shrine and just one thing about the story:

"A lot of my stories fiddle with the ways we try to reconcile contradictions, and I figured a pretty funny platform for this idea would be professional wrestling. It’s a theater of toxic masculinity yet flagrantly homoerotic. It e...