N.I. Nicholson – författare

The Spoon Knife Anthology collects the work of over 25 authors, including Autonomous Press partners, disability studies scholars, established prose and poetry artists, and emerging storytellers from a variety of backgrounds. Together, these writers deliver a series of meditations on compliance and consent that are simultaneously intimate and alienating.

"This jewel of a collection had me crying, laughing in parts, and becoming outraged. I hope that everyone in the care-taking communities of medicine and mental health reads these rare and wonderful first hand accounts for their own education." 

- Judy Grahn, author of A Simple Revolution, Another Mother Tongue, and Love Belongs to Those Who Do the Feeling

“At the nexus of sexuality/sexual identity and disability resides a community that is as othered as one can be. And as has always been true, there resides in such a marginalized community wisdom about the human condition that is timely and necessary. We who do not understand the gradations and dynamism of Autism and other neural and generally physical challenges, who do not understand the gradations and dynamism of human sexuality, must humble ourselves before the varied voices of this community. They are our teachers. Michael Monje and her associate have gathered and produced an important anthology.”

- Richard Katrovas, author of Raising Girls in Bohemia and Swastika into Lotus

Barking Sycamores published its first issue in the spring of 2014 and from the beginning, it dedicated itself to providing a medium for neurodivergent voices in literaure and art. In partnership with Autonomous Press's NeuroQueer Books, the journal proudly presents its Year One anthology. Collected in this volume are its first four issues, first published online in 2014 and 2015.

FEATURING WORK BY: Sarah Akin, Mikey Allcock, Samm Almester, Amy Barlow Liberatore, Matthew Brown, Cathy Carlisi, Ellie Castellanos, Tasha Chemel, Deanna Christian, Robin Como, Allen Davis, Melissa DeHart, Heather Dorn, fayola, Leila Fortier, Kimberly Gerry Tucker, Jessica Goody, Elizabeth J. (Ibby) Grace, Michael Lee Johnson, Duane L. Herrmann, Madison Kallisti, Jillian Koopman, Thomas Krampf, Craig Kurtz, Savanna Logsdon-Breakstone, Chris McLean, Laura Merleau, David Mitchell, Michael Scott Monje Jr., N.I. Nicholson, A.J. Odasso, Emily Paige Ballou, Thomas Park, C.F. Roberty, Miss Roberts, Maranda Russell, Barbara Ruth, Giorgia Sage, Phillip Sroka, Lucas Scheelk, A.D. Stone, Bethany Tap, Jonathan Travelstead, Candy Waters, Angela Weddle, Christopher Wood-Robbins

Barking Sycamores' unthemed Issue 5 showcases the brilliance of many kinds of neurodivergent minds. It is raw and honest about problems with the psychiatric-medical complex. It speaks of our trials and flaws. Some of it is not easy to read. But inside much of it is a spectacular wit and humor, imbued with the spiritual of survival. Contributors: T.K. Dalton, Irving A. Greenfield, Philip Kobylarz, Jessica Lindsley, Claire Phelan, Barbara Ruth, Judson Simmons, Danielle Watkins.

Popular culture is an inescapable component of our daily lives. Turn on a television, read a publication, surf on your smartphone – and you partake in some fashion. Even if you disconnect from media or technology, the sum of your prior experiences and interactions with pop culture continue to stay with you, shaping your thoughts and even your selves long after exposure to it. Whether you love, hate, critique, remain indifferent to, or choose to ignore a particular aspect of it, the fact is – it becomes a part of you.

For Issue 6, we chose the theme of pop culture because we were interested particularly in how neurodivergent folk process and interact with it. From the submissions we received, popular culture proved to be a power presence in the lives of our contributors. Sometimes it was a distraction, nuisance, or negative influence; other times it proved to be simply ubiquitous background noise; and in other instances it was a welcome obsession, a source of inspiration, or sources of enjoyment and relaxation. The contributors took bits of popular culture – either singularly or combined together – and reinterpreted them to create a range of work in many shades: humorous and witty, insightful, stunningly beautiful, and darkly disturbing.

We are proud to present this issue to our readers. Given more time, we surely would have collected more work and been able to present a much larger range of commentary on popular culture. However, we invite you to read, consider, and enjoy what our contributors offer here. We are also delighted to present Christopher Wood-Robbins as our cover artist and his piece, “Reaching for your Dreams;” additionally, one of his poems is included in this issue Also, as a special feature we’ll present a poem by our editor-in-chief N.I. Nicholson at the end of the issue period.

Thank you for reading and supporting Barking Sycamores, as we continue into our second year of publication. The future is so highly illuminated that we find it necessary to wear protective eyewear with darkened or polarized lenses.