Have I ever expressed to you how much I love regional publications? Yes? Good, because I adore local voices and Tidal Echoes is hands down one of my all-time favorite and much-anticipated annual spring publication. Compiled by students at UAS Juneau, its content is gathered December 1. Acceptances usually land near the end of March, and normally there is an in-person Juneau launch in April. Of course this year’s launch moved online in these days of Covid. By May, the complimentary hard copy arrives in the mail. It has not only become a seasonal marker, but reminder of this sweet Alaskan writing community of which I am lucky to be a part. Even quick glance of the TOC lists out familiar names and faces from Alaska Women Speak, amazing students writers and artists from Sitka High, and dear friends from my local writing group, Blue Canoe Writers. It’s a reunion of sorts on the page. Anyway, here’s this year’s cover image by artist Pat Race, along with a couple of my 2019 poems the editors chose for this issue. Cheers to those who put their time and effort into such a fine publication, and to poet/UAS professor Emily Wall for overseeing its delivery.
Kersten Christianson, Poet 