Issue #30 Fall 2025
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Dear Readers,
Welcome to the 30th Issue of Jet Fuel Review! The editors are excited to share with you the wonderful collection of writing and artwork that is encapsulated in this issue. After months of reading through over 800 national and international submissions, the editors have carefully selected pieces that are representative of our mission statement. As a result, this issue highlights a variety of voices and artwork that speak to the world we live in and the prismatic nature of the human condition. Housed at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, Jet Fuel Review is a student-run, faculty-advised, seven-time CMA Pinnacle Award-winning literary journal that publishes writers and artists from across the globe. We are honored not only to provide a creative platform for people’s voices but also to produce a journal that is impactful to those who read it. Our featured cover piece for this issue, “Folding City,” by high school student Taegyoung Shon, is a piece that explores “the boundaries between the everyday and the fantastical blur.” Shon uses her art to express the comprehensive reflections of her fluid worldview, which the editors deemed fit to reflect this issue of Jet Fuel Review. The poetry section of this issue highlights an expansive and engaging set of voices, such as the work of Kelle Groom, the author of four poetry collections whose poem, “Blackberries,” mediates on intense description and imagery to convey the complex experience of early motherhood. The work of Jordan Cobb, a queer American poet based in NYC, reflects on strong statements and notions through the unsaid, allowing for the reader to fill in the blanks through a unique structure, and evoking strong tension. You may also read the works of Jose-Luis Moctezuma, “The Fall of Icarus,” in which he portrays a fresh retelling of Brueghel’s original painting of Icarus and “Red Desert,” that comments on heavy industrialization through unique uses of imagery and word choice. In these pages, you’ll also find pieces from our previous contributor, Jane Zwart, whose works continue to stun us. We’re also thrilled to highlight the works of Joshua St. Claire, Sara Schraufnagel, Sadie Balsom, Sean Eaton, Allisa Cherry, Matthew Kelsey, and so many more wonderful poets. The fiction section features a variety of topics and voices, including the work of Stephanie Rick, Los Angeles based writer and educator, who wrote “The Hook by the Door” through the perspective of an escort maneuvering through the transition from childhood to adulthood. You may also read Rick White’s “The Sow”, which creates a detailed depiction of what it’s like living with the lingering effects of unresolved trauma, family dysfunction, and mental health issues or Duke Stewart’s “Odds”, an inspiring and hopeful story about battling through cancer. You’ll also find Kathryn Kruse’s piece, “I Know That There Is a Tear In My Sheet.” a short story that gives life to the mundane. Our creative nonfiction section comprises one narrative, which is the work of Luxi Xu, a San Francisco Bay area writer and tech industry worker, who seamlessly connects identity and cultural significance of cuisines through descriptive imagery and language within her piece, “Where the Soup Still Simmers.” In addition to the artwork created by our cover artist, Taegyoung Shon, our art section showcases idiosyncratic pieces by Bríd Moynahan, who repurposes characters from fairy tales to curate her own twist on these classics. Jet Fuel Review also features the work of Elsa Muñoz, a Mexican-American artist whose pieces explore the metaphorical approach to fires reflecting cycles of grief and regeneration. In these pages, you will also find Brittany Schall and Cynthia Yatchman as well as one of our previous contributors, Melody S. Boone. The literature and artwork in these pages are a testament to the diverse perspectives and experiences that are currently present in our society and to voices that are both forthright and unfeigned. We invite you to dive into our 30th issue, and we hope that you appreciate the works that make up this issue as much as we do. Read on! Katharine Svehla, Jada Law, Jimena Araiza and the Jet Fuel Review editors |