This online journal celebrates the diverse voices from Laguna Writers, Birdland Retreats and workshops.

In this issue, we present a collection of stories and prose poems where dialogue, both external and internal, follows our theme: Talk to Me. The voices of ten writers offer a variety of conversations: childhood posturing on the first day at school; longtime friends traveling abroad; the sacredness of the family road trip; intimacy with love and death; the vacation romance, Provincetown style; the challenge and promise of the to-do list; panic and the breath; the joys of being a dinner guest.

Our writers are: Christopher P. DeLorenzo, Daniel Raskin, Ken Linton, Lisa Hills,  Tim Lane, Sharon H. Smith, Terri Mason, Merijane Block, LiAnne Yu and Jasmine Ty.

Readers, we invite and appreciate your comments on the pieces in this issue, and hope you are moved to share them with others via the social media icons below each story or poem. Writers and readers, we thank all of you for your participation and ongoing interest and support.

We plan to take advantage of the restorative nature of winter hibernation to come up with a theme for our Spring issue. Next year we will also look into broadening exposure and participation, and determine if it’s time for the journal to grow. In the meantime we wish you happy holidays and a cozy winter.

Birdland Journal archives since October 2014 are available on this page.

Since 2009, Birdland Retreats in West Sonoma, California, has been hosting retreats and workshops. Visit www.savorsmith.com/birdland to see upcoming offerings.

We hope Birdland Journal inspires you to write, and to join our growing community of writers!

— Sharon H. Smith, Editor   Merijane Block, Copy Editor