About Blazing Star
The Blazing Star Journal was founded by Mary Swander in 2022 to showcase writing by farmers, gardeners, writers, artists and others who advance the AgArts mission: to imagine and promote healthy food systems through the arts. We publish poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama and art –– one piece once a month to allow our readers time to focus and appreciate the highlighted work. Find a Blazing Star from a previous month by clicking on a graphic below.
School Days, School Days
Monica Leo, April 2022
Stories Shared across the Kitchen Table
Annette Matjucha Hovland, May 2022
ARRIVAL
Jean Graham, June 2022
Boys and Oil
Taylor Brorby, July 2022
The Garter Stitch Dishcloth
Susan M. Strawn, August 2022
THE GREAT MULLEN CATTLE DRIVE, Part 1
Russ Mullen, Sept 2022
The Great Mullen Cattle Drive, Part 2
Russ Mullen, Oct 2022
O PIONEERS!
Karen Downing, Nov 2022
A GREAT PLENTY
Tom Montgomery Fate, Dec 2022
LETTING OFF STEAM
Jane Yoder-Short, January 2023
Potatoes and Pie
Kate Edwards, February 2023
Becky’s Butchering Story
Rebecca Hawkins Valadez, March 2023
Loving our Cottonwoods
James Calvin Schaap, April 2023
ACROSS THE POND
Monica Leo, May 2023
The Shetland Fair Isle Kep
Susan M. Strawn, June 2023
Reflections: A Residency in The Driftless
Grant Holub-Moorman, July 2023
Reflexiones: Una residencia artística en la Driftless de Iowa
Special Places: Farmland Sanctuaries
Russ Mullen, August 2023
Scattergood Life
Jean Graham, September 2023
Touring Arts Team
Monica Leo, October 2023
The Gaman Mittens
Susan M. Strawn, November 2023
Notes: Country School Pymosa #4
Ardyth Harris Gillespie, December 2023
Cleanliness is Next to Godliness… ?
Russ Mullen, Jan 2024
Just Down the Road, There’s a Place Like…
Wini Moranville, Feb 2024
The Secret Treasure of Coming Home
James Schaap, Mar 2024
Beginnings
Kayt Sunwood, April 2024
Illinois: Cahokia & the Upper Mississippi…
Kevin J. Koch, May 2024
Heirloom Tomatoes
Annette Matjucha Hovland, June 2024
What’s at stake in Iowa’s attack on libraries?
Angie Carter, August 2024
A glimpse into Iowa’s natural history
Amie Adams, Sept 2024
Listening to a field through the window…
Austen Camille, Oct 2024
Listening to a field through the window… II
Austen Camille, Nov 2024
Farming and Fishing on a Finite Planet
Taylor Brorby, Dec 2024