MELISSA D. SULLIVAN is a writer, editor, lawyer, parent, and semi-professional Tina Fey fan girl. Her writing has appeared in Bucks Family Magazine, Suburban Life, Hippocampus Magazine, Nightingale & Sparrow, and elsewhere.
Her flash histfic “Dear Jacqueline” was nominated for a 2019 Pushcart Prize and her short story "Waiting on the Queen" was an honorable mention in the 2022 J.F. Flowers Short Fiction Contest. Melissa can often be found in the suburbs of Philadelphia, mourning changes to the Taco Bell menu and plotting out her next strong female lead. She is an associate editor of Neshaminy.
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NESHAMINY: THE BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAL AND LITERARY JOURNAL explores the past and present of history, literature, and art in Doylestown and the Bucks County area. A co-publication of the Doylestown Historical Society and the Bucks County Writers Workshop, Neshaminy’s 2023 Spring/Summer edition features essays, history, fiction, and poetry from 13 local artists, including:
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An original ghost story, “Castle Valley,” by Bucks County icon Henry Chapman Mercer, along with an article by scholar Tom Sparrow putting Mercer in literary context.
A memoir by Doylestown-based writer and filmmaker Jennifer Lin regarding her childhood acquaintance with the celebrated Bucks County illustrator Ben Solowey.
An essay by Daniel Dorian exploring the current controversy around the Central Bucks School District’s library policy against the history of censorship in Ancient Rome, early America and elsewhere.
An irreverent interview with horror/sci-fi author and Bucks native Chuck Wendig.
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Profiles on Bucks County artists Harry Boardman and Tim Gibson.
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Original drawings by New Yorker cartoonist Pat Achilles
Poetry and fiction from Jill Lupine, Lois Perch Villemaire, Joseph Brunetti, Don Swaim, Daniel Sean Kaye and Carl Reader.
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The Spring/Summer 2023 issue of Neshaminy and its back issues can be obtained at the Doylestown Historical Society, local bookstores such as the Doylestown Bookshop, and online.
More information is available at https://neshaminyjournal.org.