Kaleidoscope magazine publishes work that creatively explores the experience of disability through literature and the fine arts. The Summer/Fall 2024 issue (#89) explores the ebbs and flows of life. Just like shells along a beach, readers will find some treasures in the selected works.

The featured essay, “Portrait with a Seagull,” is the sweet story of a family’s visit to the Jersey Shore and one child’s preoccupation with seagulls. Mom and author, Natalie Haney Tilghman, sees her son interacting with a gull and is a bit envious of the effortless, immediate connection they have. Despite her aversion to the creatures that swoop through the sky snatching snacks and squealing, they end up saving the day in an unexpected way, and she is grateful.

Digital artist Diana de Avila is featured in this issue along with various other established and emerging writers: Emma Baker, Jax Bidmead, Marjorie E. Brody, Emma Burnett, Douglas G. Campbell, Deb DeBates, Alexander Etheridge, Joanne Feenstra, Janet Engle Frase, Ben Gooley, Lori Hahnel, Mattie-Bretton Hughes, Shelly Jones, Suzanne Kamata, Grace Kully, Karen McKenzie, Betsy Miller, PMF, Trystan Popish, Ivy Raff, Tara K. Ross, Sheersty Stanton, M.S., Cynthia Stock and Angela Townsend.

Kaleidoscope: The Art and Language of Inclusion has launched Episode 6 of its podcast. Focusing on selections from issue 88 of Kaleidoscope magazine, this podcast aims to lift the words directly from the pages of the publication to deliver them to an audience through a new perspective.

Host Nick deCourville takes listeners on a journey through the art of living with a disability. Looking at our own lives, we may often choose to make positive changes that help us live a more authentic existence. On the flipside, we may decide that something we have always done is no longer in our best interest, and we choose to let it go. Throughout this episode, the presenting authors share the essential elements they have found to living a life crafted creatively.

Episode six of the Kaleidoscope podcast features readings from authors Hareendran Kallinkeel, Carrie Hinton, Aisha Ashraf, Nancy J. Fagan, Stacie Eirich, Tim Campbell, Geri Lipschultz and Kelsie Bennett.

Kaleidoscope magazine publishes work that creatively explores the experience of disability through literature and the fine arts. In issue 88 several authors share ways they’re mastering the art of living with disability as an essential element of a creatively crafted life.

In the featured essay, “The Tree That Reminds Me,” author Rhonda Zimlich runs, and with every stride, she pushes her body, clears her mind, and denies the disease within. When she runs in her neighborhood she passes a tree that has been damaged by a lightning strike. MS has ravaged the bark of her nerves, leaving her scarred and exposed, just like the tree, and this kinship with the deciduous maple causes her to reflect on her existence.

Dave Wisniewski is the featured artist. He is a legally blind painter whose canvases depict larger-than-life characters from the Wild West. In addition to the features mentioned here, Kaleidoscope hopes readers will enjoy the work of these contributors: Aisha Ashraf, Kelsie Bennett, Cynthia Bernard, Tim Campbell, William Cass, Amy DeBellis, Stacie Eirich, Nancy J. Fagan, Connie Harold, Waylon Henggeler, Carrie Hinton, Claire Ibarra, Hareendran Kallinkeel, Danielle Krikorian, Geri Lipschultz, Emmy D. Wells, Jordan Wilson-Dalzell, and Ellen Zhang.

Kaleidoscope: The Art and Language of Inclusion has launched episode five of its podcast. Focusing on issue 87 of the same-named Kaleidoscope magazine, this episode aims to lift the words from the pages to present them to an audience through a different perspective.

Join host Nick deCourville as he explores the ties that bind. In life, we experience many connections. Whether this is connections to our family, to our friends, or to ourselves, these ties help keep us tethered to reality. However, some ties can also keep us connected from that which we are trying to escape. Ties can help provide security and comfort, but it can also be far too easy to become entangled in our binds. Ties can keep us connected, yet somehow separate us.

This episode focuses on these ties and their impact on others with readings from Roly Andrews, Shanan Ballam, Caitlin C. Baker, Susan Whiting Kemp, Ujjvala Bagal Rahn, Robert Douglas Friedman, Margaret D. Stetz, Rebecca Brothers, Melanie Reitzel, Kate Robinson, Ellis Elliot, Shelly Jones, Connie Buckmaster, Marya Summers, and Benjamin Decter. Listen today and reflect on the ties that bind you.

A pioneer in its field, Kaleidoscope magazine publishes work that creatively explores the experience of disability. With the theme of “The Ties that Bind,” there are two prominent threads woven into Issue 87: family and deafness. Our featured essay, by Paul Hostovsky, contains elements of both. The featured artist is Kelly Simpson. Kaleidoscope hopes readers will enjoy the work by these contributors: Roly Andrews, Caitlin C. Baker, Shanan Ballam, Rebecca Brothers, Connie Buckmaster, S. Leigh Ann Cowan, Benjamin Decter, Ellis Elliott, Robert Douglas Friedman, N.J. Haus, Shelly Jones, Susan Whiting Kemp, Lori Lindstrom, Claire McMurray, Gloria g. Murray, Wendy Nikel, Rachel Papirmeister, Ujjvala Bagal Rahn, Melanie Reitzel, Kate Robinson, Seth Schindler, Nancy Scott, Margaret D. Stetz, Marya Summers and Lee Ann Wilson.

To find more great reading, visit the NewPages Guide to Literary Magazines, the NewPages Big List of Literary Magazines, the NewPages Big List of Alternative Magazines, and the NewPages Guide to Publications for Young Writers. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up to date!

Throughout the Winter/Spring 2023 issue of Kaleidoscope: Exploring the Experience of Disability through Literature and the Fine Arts, unexpected truths are discovered through all genres. Sometimes the truth can be hard to swallow and in other cases, revelations are surprisingly sweet. The featured essay, “Awakening” by Jane Gabriel, recounts the events of a beautiful, sunny, summer day when she picks up her teenager’s phone only to discover her daughter is plotting a murder and has enlisted the help of someone online. Without warning, a fast-moving, dark storm erupts within the home, and what transpires is sure to leave readers stunned. Kaleidoscope hopes readers will enjoy the well-crafted stories, moving poetry, poignant essays, animal portraiture by Katherine Klimitas, much-needed humor, and a review of the book Being Heumann. Other contributors include Matt Flick, Fay L. Loomis, Stephanie Harper, Alpheus Williams, Sharon Hart Addy, Evelyn Arvey, Carol Zapata-Whelan, Judy Lunsford, Vesper North, Courtney B. Cook, Eric Witchey, Judith Krum, Daylyn Carrigan, Jess Pulver, Kristen Reid, Chelsea Malia Brown, Robin Knight, Hudson Plumb, Conny Borgelioen, Dawn Rachel Carrington, Hannah Sward, Kelley A Pasmanick, and Fionn Pulsifer.

Kaleidoscope magazine creatively focuses on the experiences of disability through literature and the fine arts publishing personal essays, creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and book reviews. Issue 85 contains nuggets of contentment and acceptance. The featured essay is “My Mother’s Geranium” by AnnaLee Wilson. Desperate to uncover her family’s history and the mystery disease impacting many of the women in it, the author began asking her aging mother questions in search of answers. This essay is the result of those inquisitive visits. This issue’s featured artist is Alana Ciena Tillman, a mouth artist and entrepreneur. Her “Happy Cow” image on the cover is delightful. Kaleidoscope hopes readers will enjoy the poetry, essays, and stories of strength, connection, and contentment offered by their contributors: Marcia Pradzinski, Nancy Deyo, Troy Reeves, Kirie Pedersen, Evelyn Arvey, Sylvia Melvin, Cristina Hartmann, John William, Kale Bandy, Jen Eve Taylor, Doug Tanoury, Dina S. Towbin, Mary Wemple, Colleen Anderson, Levi J. Mericle, and Sandra J. Lindow.