Letter from the Editor: Issue 4
Issue 4 launch, International submissions, and other news from the EIC
Dear Traces Community,
We are excited to share the first batch of publications from Issue 4: Ascension 2026. I’m pleased to say this is our best issue yet, featuring new work from some of Canada’s greatest writers of faith, including A.F. Moritz, George Elliott Clarke, D.S. Martin, Sarah Klassen, Pamela Mordecai, Burl Horniachek, and more!
Announcement: Short Fiction & International Submissions
We also have some changes coming to Traces. Starting this fall, our October issues will be open to international submissions from anywhere in the world.
Additionally, Dominic Lindl will be taking over as our new Fiction Editor. We are now open to short fiction submissions from Canadian and international contributors.
Check out our Submittable page for details.
Issue 4: Ascension 2026
Special Features
Each issue, we run special features highlighting the work of Canadian writers of faith. In Issue 3, we highlighted the work of poet Daniel Cowper. This issue features new poetry and spotlights newly published collections by A.F. Moritz and D.S. Martin.
A. F. Moritz has published more than 20 books of poetry that have received various recognitions, such as the Griffin Poetry Prize. His 2024 book, Great Silent Ballad, received the 2025 Al and Eurithe Purdy Poetry Prize. In 2026 he has published The Wren, poems, and a translation, Eternities (bilingual edition), of the 1918 book Eternidades by Juan Ramón Jiménez.
New Poetry by A.F. Moritz:
D.S. Martin is Poet-in-Residence at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, the Series Editor for the Poiema Poetry Series from Cascade Books, and serves on the Advisory Board for Traces. His new poetry collection The Role of the Moon (Paraclete Press) is a Gold Medal Winner at the Illumination Book Awards, and a Finalist for the 2026 Poetry Society of Virginia North American Poetry Book Award.
New Poetry by D.S. Martin:
Issue 4: Week 1
We slowly roll out each issue over four weeks. Be sure to subscribe to receive each weekly batch of publications straight to your inbox.
Poetry
This week includes new poetry by George Elliott Clarke, Sarah Klassen, Jesse Keith Butler, & Brad Davis!
Interviews
Myth and Image: A Conversation with Scott Aasman
Scott Aasman is an illustrator, educator, community builder and part-time chicken farmer. As a student of both Art and Theology at Redeemer University, Scott found a way to express the ideas he was reading in textbooks visually through his work in the studio. By colliding and fusing biblical and cultural meta-narratives and layering them with personal a…
Book Reviews
A special thanks to everyone who helped make this issue possible, especially our interns Sydney Goodreau & Lucia Ottenbriet, the Traces Advisory Board, and our Editorial team.
See you next week!
The Traces editorial team.
