Local writers Gretchen Wing of Lopez Island and Jill McCabe Johnson of Orcas Island are among the writers and artists featured in “SHARK REEF Literary Magazine’s Winter 2012 Edition,” online now at sharkreef.org. Submissions to the issue came from the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Founded in 2001 by Lopezians Alie Smaalders, Laurie Parker and Lorna Reese, “SHARK REEF” is now in its second decade. Current editor Lorna Reese works with different local co-editors for each issue. Her co-editor for prose submissions – fiction and creative non-fiction — for the winter issue was Orcas Islander Jennifer Brennock. In the introduction to the Winter 2012 issue, Brennock writes:

“Whether you are an admitted geek or a casual consumer of current culture, a great story affects you. It’s like hearing a voice paradoxically both known and stranger. There is something in the story that compels us, that affirms a resonant experience within, in our deepest place, in—dare we say it—our souls. We’ve known something like it, exactly like it, in fact, but we didn’t have the words at the time. But this particular writer did find the words, and we are in awe because they defined something inside of us previously unnamed. A literary journal is a quest for your moments of awe. Collectively, this issue of “SHARK REEF” is a kaleidoscopic presentation of those moments.”

Poetry co-editors for the last two editions were John Sangster and Elizabeth Landrum, both Lopezians. Judy Connor, of St. Paul, Minn., was art editor. Writers interested in collaborating on an issue email editor@sharkreef.org.

“SHARK REEF” has a Facebook page (Shark Reef Literary Magazine) where readers subscribe to receive email updates.

The magazine is accepting submissions of writing and art for its Summer 2012 edition. Deadline is March 31.

Launched in 2001 as a venue for serious local writers to get their work published, the online literary magazine now accepts good writing from writers wherever they live.

“SHARK REEF” publishes two issues a year, one in the summer and one in winter. Submission deadlines are March 31 and Sept. 30. The literary magazine considers solicited and unsolicited material: fiction, non-fiction prose, poetry and dramatic writing. It also features artwork by visual artists in each issue. Go to sharkreef.org for submission guidelines, current offerings and archived issues.