Introducing the February 2025 Issue of Worlds of Possibility
This issue contains, five stories, two poems, and four illustrations.
The February 2025 issue of Worlds of Possibility has gone out to paid subscribers, who can get their copy here: https://www.juliarios.com/the-february-2025-issue-of-worlds-of-possibility/.
If you would like to buy an individual copy of this issue instead of subscribing, you can do that here: https://www.patreon.com/juliarios/shop/worlds-of-possibility-february-2025-1207943
This issue contains five stories (one of which is a 100 word drabble), two poems, and four illustrations. Uncredited art is designed/curated by me using stock art. I do try to ensure I am using stock created by humans. To the best of my knowledge, I do not use AI. Below you will find the table of contents and the Note From the Editor for this issue.
Table of Contents:
- How to Cook with the Negative Space in Your Grandmother’s Recipes: a story by Jennifer Hudak, 1,000 words.
- Naija 3000: A Galactic Hustle: a poem by Solape Adetutu Adeyemi, 20 lines.
- “The Black Activist” and “Beauty in Impermanence”: illustrations by Sholanke Boluwatife Emmanuel. Beauty in Impermanence also serves as the cover art for this issue.
- Brighter Than Anything on Earth: a story by Annika Barranti Klein, 4,240 words.
- The Nectar of the Gods: a poem by J. D. Harlock, 28 lines.
- Have You Eaten Yet?: a story by Ian Li, 325 words.
- Restaurant Under the Sea: an illustration by Andrea Bures.
- Night Shift Coffee: a drabble by Marc A. Criley, 100 words.
- Recipes for the Course of Living: a story by Jeané D. Ridges, 4,440 words.
- Aurora: an illustration by Catherine Fitzsimmons.
February is a transition time where I live. The light is beginning to come back, which is very welcome, but it’s cold, and it has been cold for months. The streets are crusted with salt and snow, half thawed and refrozen into hard mounds and slick ice sheets. It’s a time when one might well want to stay inside a warm place and enjoy some comfort food.
Maybe that’s why this issue has a strong food theme. It’s also why I chose to donate to World Central Kitchen again recently. Lots of people in areas all around the world don’t have the same access to food and shelter that I am lucky enough to enjoy.
World Central Kitchen is currently cooking meals for people in Lebanon and Palestine, Ukraine, and many other places where climate change and other emergencies mean people are displaced and hungry. They helped with Hurricane Helene on the East Coast of the US, and with the Los Angeles wildfires on the west coast of the US. I love their mission, and their dedication to getting on the ground and working with local chefs.
We begin our literary feast with “How to Cook with the Negative Space in Your Grandmother’s Recipes” by Jennifer Hudak. Food can be comforting, and it can also be fraught. This story explores the intersections of food and family dynamics, with a new generation learning how to work with the imperfect legacy of a previous one, and making new choices as well.
From there we leap forward to the year 3000 where Solace Adetutu Adeyemi gives us a vision of a future Nigeria. This poem is full of energy, and posits that of course people will still be eating jollof rice (and competing with others about whose regional variation is best).
From Nigerian poetry, we move to Nigerian art with the first of our three featured artists for this issue. Sholanke Boluwatife Emmanuel contributes two beautiful pieces, one of which also serves as the cover for this issue.
Returning to our pages for a third time is Annika Barranti Klein, this time with “Brighter than Anything on Earth” — a story about complex social and family dynamics that ultimately celebrates the bonds we choose to nurture.
For reasons that will seem clearer after you read Annika’s story, it felt natural to follow up with a poem about drinking the nectar of the gods. J. D. Harlock also leads us firmly back into our food theme.
We continue with a trio of pieces about food in challenging locations. “Have You Eaten Yet?” by Ian Li is a short story about comfort food on the moon. We follow that with “Restaurant Under the Sea” by Andrea Bures. This illustration brings us both whimsy and food for thought. And to complete our trio, we have another drabble from Worlds of Possibility regular, Marc A. Criley. “Night Shift Coffee” imagines how the night shift might work in space.
In case you’re hungry by now, we have a recipe story for you! Jeané D. Ridges returns to their world from “Prep Luay” (a story in the June 2023 issue), where a found family group gets together in a floatlodge. Both stories involve food, but this one has actual recipes!
“Aurora” by Catherine Fitzsimmons seemed like the perfect piece to close this issue. It’s got a chilly aurora borealis dragon that feels very apropos of the weather where I live right now, and the art style felt to me like it might be similar to what artists in Jeané D. Ridges’s stories might create on their sharboards.
I hope you leave this issue feeling full and content. As a reminder:
I will be wrapping up the magazine with the June 2025 issue.
The final reading period for submissions has ended, and I am currently in the process of considering all those pieces (roughly a thousand came in, and a few of those are in this issue). I anticipate choosing all the contents for the April and June issues and replying to all submissions by the end of March.
There are content notes at the end of the issue for anyone who is worried about what they may find in the stories. Although my goal for Worlds of Possibility is to publish works that soothe, inspire, and delight, I recognize that many subjects are difficult for different readers at different times, and I encourage you to make informed decisions about what you choose to read and when.
All Best,
Julia Rios
