• Poetry

    Apologies from a Procrastinator

    by Sarah Edwards   If you’re anything like me, I’m sorry. I am a procrastinator. And it’s not because I want to be… I swear I wanted to get that assignment in on time, I even fantasized about getting it done early! If I close my eyes I can picture myself handing it over to the professor, face bright with pure joy. I’m not sure how it went from Monday to Tuesday, then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday… If you excuse me just a second I’ll go ask Time why he’s moving so fast. … I’m sorry, but it seems I’ve lost track of him. It’s not only school I procrastinate, The…

  • Nonfiction

    Caribbean Carnival

    by Elbert Joseph In the Caribbean, Carnival can simply be described as the ultimate expression of pure joy. This expression of joy is reached while the sweet sounds of Soca music are played and people dance through the streets. It is probably the most colorful event that ever happens in the Caribbean. The events of Carnival can be divided into four parts: J’Ouvert, Kids’ Parade, Adults’ Parade, and Last Lap. Carnival is the essence of the people of the Caribbean. Every year thousands of people flock to various islands to participate in the Carnival festivities and traditions of those islands. Although all of the islands celebrate Carnival, each island celebrates…

  • Nonfiction

    Social Media is Ruining Social Skills

    by Justin Rojeski The air is filled with lovely aromas of turkey, yams, and cornbread as I walk into my parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps even more exciting than the meal in which I am about to enjoy is how important this dinner is: this is the first time my wife’s family will be sitting down for a meal with my family. I take a seat in the living room and wait for the remaining guests to arrive. There’s a knock at the door and all 12 of my wife’s family members enter. We make ourselves comfortable in the living room as we wait for the table to be…

  • Poetry

    Can’t You Wait For the Weather to Warm

    by Sarah Edwards Can’t you wait for the weather to warm! Won’t it be grand when almost everyone is smearing SPF 65 over their bodies before they exit the house? It will be exciting to see massive storms, longer droughts, and gargantuan floods! If you’ve always wanted to live by the beach, You need not worry, with accelerating sea levels, you may find yourself closer to one in no time. And if spring is your favorite season, you’re in luck Spring is coming sooner, Though don’t worry about the changes of earth’s ecosystems, This will cause pollinators like those pesky little bees to die out (along with many of the…

  • Nonfiction

    How to Read a Book

    by Elin Johnson As my time at Turnagain Currents comes to a close, I think back to everything that made my experience special. The musty bat cave with its mismatched chairs and stacks of outdated literature. The partially filled out schedules and all the decisions that ended with “yeah we should get to that…” My poetry enthused counterpart and our fearless editor, creating magic with a few key strokes. Our Canadian faculty advisor always encouraging us to continue writing even when academia had sucked all of our passion out of our souls through bendy straws. This eclectic group of individuals all bound together by our mutual hatred of the sound…

  • Nonfiction

    Interview with Writer Jolene Perry

    by Elin Johnson Jolene Perry is our amazing writer-in-residence. She grew up in Alaska and still resides in the final frontier with her husband and two kids. Jolene has written for Entangled, Albert Whitman Teen, and Simon Pulse.    Q: When did you first decide to become a writer and how did you go about doing so? A: I always wanted to be a writer, but thought I’d never have any ideas. I laugh about that now because I can’t imagine living long enough to get all my ideas down. I’ve always kept a journal and/or a blog, filling both with personal essays. One day I thought it might be…

  • Nonfiction

    Growing Up

    by Beth Pipkin It is the rarest kind of awakening from sleep that allows you to gently glide from dreamland back to the physical world with eyes closed, body still and the rest of your senses doing all of the work to remind you of where you are. Once reality is all pieced together in your mind as you lay there, you smile because you remember and crawl out of bed to make sure that it is real. I was seven years old when I discovered paradise. Asleep in my Umma and Uppa’s bed is where it all started, with my dark brown hair cut into a bob, like Mary…

  • Nonfiction

    Dogastrophe

    by Elin Johnson When my parents separated my mom got a house full of  whatnot and my dad got our chubby little black lab. At eight, the loss of my four-legged best friend was more heart-wrenching than the family rupture. The presence of my father was limited strictly to weekends which left a dog-sized hole in my chest for the rest of the week. Mother compensated for this by dragging me out to the Butte in response to an ad found buried in the classifieds. We found ourselves on the ranch of an austere horse veterinarian who wouldn’t allow us to pass the driveway without first confirming we would purchase…

  • Nonfiction

    5 Things to do in Dominica

    by Elbert Joseph While growing up on this mystical island there was never a shortage of things to do and places to go. From one adventure to the next, I spent my childhood exploring the beautifully untamable rainforest of the Nature Isle of the Caribbean. Swimming in many of its 365 rivers and finding secret beaches made growing up on this island  the experience of a lifetime. So, if you want to go on a vacation that is full of adventure and exploration, then you should visit Dominica. The island isn’t like one of those cookie cutter touristy islands with massive hotels and crowded beaches. In quite a contrast from…