JONAHmagazine is comprised of stories. Stories of journeys, in space, in time, in the heart, or in the mind. Beginnings, endings, triumphs and frustrations, odysseys of the spirit. Poetry, prose, true stories, memoir. Tales humorous or not. Fish stories, big fish stories. Lies. Stories that come from the soul, or that steal it. Stories that derive from the sky or the deep blue sea, or from nothing and nowhere.

The Book of Jonah, one of the books of the Tanach (the Old Testament), tells the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet, to whom God gives the assignment to order the King of Nineveh to mend the ways of his kingdom lest the Lord sends destruction upon them all. Jonah, knowing that this will almost surely end badly, flees aboard a boat. God sends a storm and the seamen, realizing they are in deep trouble, assign the blame (correctly) to Jonah, who is famously thrown overboard and swallowed by a giant sea creature. Miraculously thrown up on shore, Jonah decides to grow up, take responsibility, and proceeds to save the city of Nineveh. And then he regrets it. Life’s like that.

JANUARY 2026          

Welcome to the 24nd edition of JONAHmagazine

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Dear Readers,

Here it is, the 24nd issue of JONAHmagazine. Happy winter, (those living in the Northern Hemisphere. If you live south of the equator, we envy your summer.

As a new feature, we are including literary news from authors who we have published in the past. If you are among these, and have a new publication/event/activity of interest to our readers, please let us know and we will include it in a timely way on our site. No need to wait for the next deadline or publication date.

Well, we seem to have made it through an eventful and in so many ways taxing and arduous year. One hopes that the newb year brings sweeter things in the weather (unlikely, what with global climate change), the world of politics and policy, (also unlikely, but who really knows?) and in our ordinary lives. Changes of some sort are happening, and we will adjust and endure, as always. Leaving that aside, which reading helps us to do, the current selection of poetry and fiction, although small, is worth a look and a read. Bubbling like a witch’s cauldron, amusing as a tribe of raucous monkeys, and soothing, we hope, as a warm bath, but also disruptive, provocative, and even puzzling at times, they are what JONAHmagazine is about. Whether you’re a writer or a reader, or both, ENJOY!  

And if you are a writer and want to share your creative efforts with us, check out our submission guidelines on the HOW TO SUBMIT page.

Bonne lecture! Good reading!

JONAHmagazine’s journey has its roots in the biblical cross of the Odyssey and Pinocchio, with less magic and greater human strengths and frailty, and its share of myth and oddness.  Metaphorical strings are attached for us to swing from. Jonah has been on his retreat from the unavoidable, but finally accepts that certain things are part of life, and need to be accepted and dealt with. We all do such things because we have to, but, as a slight compensation, we’re allowed to complain. And our Jonah certainly knows how to complain. Jonah’s hubris provokes the storm , and he is cast into the stormy sea. A large sea creature, (no, not a whale) swallows him, but then, having second thoughts, because Jonah is poor in nutritive value, largely indigestible, and maybe dangerous to health, vomits him out on the beach. From there come inspiration, re-education, and grudging success.

Our voyage of exploration and discovery, making landfall every 6 months, continues on our virtual pages. To date, we have hosted over 200 authors who have lent us their diverse, wonderful creations. Over 300 pieces of poetry and prose have been viewed some 50,000 times by our various readers, residents of 140 countries (more or less, but who counts these things but us?) around the world, maybe even by aliens; who can know until they arrive one day quoting from our pages.

Please continue to favour us with your work, your time, and your attention, so we can make each issue the best we can.

JONAH’s CREW:

Brian Campbell

Poetry editor 

Montreal poet, translator and songwriter. His publications include the poetry collections Shimmer Report (2015) and Passenger Flight (2009) as well as Undressing the Night (2007) a translation of a selection of poems by Nicaraguan-Canadian poet Francisco Santos. His CD On This Shore came out in 2021.

Cheryl Everett

Non-fiction and fiction editor, graphic design advisor, good taste purveyor, even keel adjustor, and cookie baker. Knows everything. Coffee format provider. Reality consultant.

Zav Levinson

Poetry  editor and arts and policy consultant and tallest

Previously co-editor of Harvest-HaAsif Literary Anthology

Author of the poetry chapbooks Trellisworks and reverb. One of his poems is rendered as a song in Spanish on the music album Botanas: Oonga.

Harry Rajchgot

Managing editor, fiction and non-fiction editor, and scientific obscurantist. Virtual typesetter.

Gravity apologist (see Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein for references) and levity adopter (see Groucho Marx and the Monty Python crew for enquiries.)

Previously co-editor of Harvest-HaAsif Literary Anthology

Author of the novel, Gravitational Fieldsand the memoir/cookbook/Yiddish culinary lexicon, The Sweetness of Life

Philip Rajchgot

Web design and problem-solving and animal protection and music which we can’t hear.