Writer
I’m delighted to share that my personal essay “Multitude of Hosts” appears in the new issue of Barnstorm Journal, from the University of New Hampshire. The piece begins as a meditation on the candle that sits by my side as I write and opens to a range of memories from my childhood across Bosnia and Spain. Huge thanks to the editors!
I was delighted to learn today that I and a few fellow writers have had a panel accepted for the AWP Conference in early March in Baltimore. Titled “Memory as Borderland in Immigrant Narratives: The Refuge & Burden of Remembering,” this conversation will explore how memory shapes identity across geographies in both fiction and creative nonfiction.
I’ll be moderating a group of writers whose work spans Nepal, the Philippines, China, and Russia. Together, we’ll examine memory as both refuge and burden and explore how memory intersects with migration, queerness, and reimagined ways of being.
I was honored to serve as guest fiction editor for the fall/winter issue of Crab Creek Review. The theme for fiction was immigration and displacement, and we’ve curated a moving, complex set of pieces that offers variety in both content and form. Big thanks to Julia Hands for the opportunity! The new issue is available through Crab Creek Review‘s Submittable.
We could be reading you in the next issue of Crab Creek Review! Submissions are open for themed fiction on displacement/immigration. I’m honored to serve as guest fiction editor for this issue, and we’ve got a wonderful team waiting to read your subs.
Writers, please submit fiction (up to 3,500 words) or get the word out to others. Submissions are open until April 1. Check out the guidelines!
I’m delighted to have my personal essay—filled with childhood memories from Bosnia—in the November issue of World Literature Today. It’s an honor to be included in this beautiful, thoughtful magazine for the second time this year.
The piece mentions a traditional Bosnian stew, and I include my dad’s recipe at the end. 
When it was accepted, I also bought a butterfly mug to celebrate, which you’ll appreciate if you read the piece.
I’m grateful my poem “Bare Necessities” is included in A Flame Called Indiana, a new multi-genre anthology from Indiana University Press, alongside the work of a number of phenomenal writers who are also friends. I’m also thrilled to know that the book will be used as a course text for two Indiana University creative writing workshops this fall. The volume contains short fiction, essays, and poetry from writers who, at some point in their lives, had a strong connection to Indiana, and it is available for purchase anywhere books are sold.
Huge thanks to the editors of Barnstorm Journal for publishing my personal essay in their December issue! I wrote the piece years ago, after a memorable trip to Sedona. I’m thrilled it found such a beautiful home, and—as always—I’m grateful for our writing community and all the writers and editors out there who look over one another’s work with care. ❤️ You can read the piece on their site, as well as hear a recording of me reading an excerpt. Hope you enjoy it!
I’m thrilled to be a semifinalist for the Ohio State University Press 2022 Non/Fiction Collection Prize! Big thanks to the editors, and congrats to this year’s winner!
Phenomenal writer Alina Stefanescu has reviewed Voices on the Move, the anthology of refugee writing to which I was honored to contribute in 2020. The book, edited by Domnica Radulescu and Roxana Cazan, is filled with impactful and diverse voices and includes a range of creative pieces. Stefanescu’s review, “The Aliens Created by Nation-States,” is available on WorldCityLit.
It was an honor last week to read my work at Slought in Philadelphia, with the Cheburashka Collective, in solidarity with Ukraine. Such well-being came from being around so many wonderful writers from Eastern Europe. I’m grateful that we had a pre-reading reception where we could connect and share stories. Thank you to the UPenn Comparative Literature, Jewish Studies, and Russian and East European Studies programs for making the evening possible!
Lana Spendl 