The Herd

The Herd was a literary newsletter dedicated to people, art, and community.

From 2018-2022, this newsletter featured artists and writers with bold, community-centered dreams and various creative projects. Enjoy the archive! If you feel moved to do so, you can still support and connect with the highlighted artists in each issue.

Katia Aoun Hage

Katia Aoun Hage is a poet and painter who lives in southern California, but that is not where her story begins.

Zeina Baltagi

In her own words, Zeina is an artist and educator, raised between California and Lebanon.

Melinda

Melinda is a multimedia artist who experiments with shape and color.

Daniel Eugene

MC. Songwriter. Creator. Daniel Eugene is a multitalented artist with several projects at once and a lot of dedication. Two albums on Spotify, a podcast on the way, shows coming up—Daniel gets it done.

Julia Edith Rigby

Julia is a multi-disciplinary artist from California who thinks about climate change, environmental relationships, and acoustic ecology.

Tara K. Shepersky

In her own words, Tara “writes to companion, myself, as much as anything.”

I ask her to explain, which she does with grace.

Ruth Galm

Ruth’s novel Into the Valley is poetic, emotional, and eerie. It follows a young woman named B. in 1967 driving inland into the Central Valley.

Iris M. Crawford

Iris M. Crawford is a climate justice reporter and editor whose work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Sojourners Magazine, AGU’s Eos, and Prism.

Adi Wickham-Gobert

Adi Wickham-Gobert co-leads the Oakland-based funk band Speakeasē.

Emily N.

Emily is “inspired by the everyday - shadows, plants, lines, and textures.” Her earrings are refined and delicate.

Laura Ståhlberg

Laura Ståhlberg is a graphic designer who thinks snail mail is sacred.

Allison E. Francis & Karla Brundage

Purchase their new book here! Allison E. Francis & Karla Brundage are poets, educators, and best friends.

Brett Benson

Brett Benson is one of the bards of San Francisco who can be found at Sacred Grounds Cafe and Golden Gate Park.

Dania Ayah Alkhouli

Dania Ayak Alkhouli (a.k.a. Lady Narrator) is a Syrian writer, blogger, poet, editor, and author, born and raised in southern California.

Georgina Marie

Georgina Marie is the Lake County Poet Laureate ‘20-24 and much, much more.

Aster K. Foley

Aster K. Foley was a queer printmaker & zinester whose spirit is still with us.

Dorian Katz

Dorian is the artist behind @poppers_the_pony.

Elizabeth Forsyth

Elizabeth Forsyth writes humorous short stories and offers book launch mentorship.

Explore the archives (below)

“I look forward to The Herd because there is always something that makes me think and perceive along new lines.”

— Ida K.

Allie Rigby 12/6/21 Allie Rigby 12/6/21

Winter Reads

This December, we celebrate the collaborative poetry of Karla Brundage and Allison Francis with their latest book, “Mulatta—Not so Tragic?” Kelly Alsup also offers her first literature review with The Herd.

Allie Rigby 2/1/21 Allie Rigby 2/1/21

Poet Laureates & Transgressive Art

In this issue of The Herd, we have a special artist interview with Dorian Katz, the artist behind Poppers the Pony, and much more. There are also several Herder events and updates, shared in the “Happenings” section below, as well as a thank you note for all who were able to attend The Poetry of Place workshop on January 23rd.

Allie Rigby 1/4/21 Allie Rigby 1/4/21

On Resting and Change-making

This issue of The Herd, our amazing artist feature is Aster K. Foley, a queer printmaker and community-builder who also has a new zine in the works. And this year, may art, words, clay, beads, and combinations of all the above mold themselves into new paradigms of thinking and being. May you give yourself permission to rest on those days or evenings when you need it most.

Allie Rigby 10/1/19 Allie Rigby 10/1/19

In an Elephant's Graveyard

When elephants die, they are often at the river. This is assuming that they outlived the slow stripping of disease and poaching, and in old age, they are now tired. They lie in the sand. They die. That is all.

Time and vultures, hyenas and black-backed jackals—they are the artists who whittle the decayed into the new. They are the ones who pluck green from grey. What I mean to say is this: elephants do not die by the river on purpose.