February 2025 Letter from the Editor

Dear Reader,

As the new Publisher and Editor of the Santa Barbara Literary Journal, I want to welcome you to our new home online and update you on my vision for the Journal.

First, I want to thank Silver Webb for the remarkable job she’s done over the years as Editrix of the Journal. Silver taught me a great deal as a writer and as an editor and I am honored to take the reins as she moves on to other endeavors.

As your new Editor, I plan to continue to feature short fiction, poetry, lyrics, and art in that eclectic and quirky style the Santa Barbara Literary Journal has come to represent. A Santa Barbara style, if you will. Though not a requirement, many of our contributors either hail from or have a connection to the Santa Barbara area. The Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference in particular has brought many a writer and poet to our pages, and I’m grateful to Monte Shultz and Grace Rachow for providing this avenue for budding writers to hone their skills.

Looking ahead, we’re skipping the Spring/Summer issue this year to focus on behind-the-scenes work related to the transition from Borda Books as our publisher. We’ll open for submissions in May for the Fall/Winter issue. In the meantime, watch this space for Artist Spotlights from Volume 11 and content pulled from the LitJo archives.

Thank you for your support,

Maryanne