Synkroniciti is excited to welcome poet Nancy Sobanik from Maine with “Diaspora From Which I Derive,” celebrating the legacy of hard work and the fight for female autonomy which began with her grandmothers, both immigrants fleeing a war-torn, impoverished Europe. “Numerous as dandelion puffs,/ they leave barrens absent/ of potatoes, potable water,/ pass gauntlets/ of chains, blades and guns/ until they drop/ onto indifferent, hostile soil.” These women struggled and persevered, marrying men who never measured up to their greatness or determination, making a place for their families to take root in a land that was indifferent to their experience. And after two generations, there is still work to be done: “Of myself, what can be said?/ I have been allowed a bucket/ 84% full next to the brimming/ buckets of men…” Americans owe much to immigrant women who raised their families here. There are few Americans more proud and patriotic, and yet we fail to realize that much of history is herstory. Nancy’s voice is expansive, thoughtful and inspiring as she illuminates her family history in way that enriches the collective American experience.
Read “Diaspora From Which I Derive in Synkroniciti’s “Identity” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/. Do not miss this emerging poet. Her chapbook, “The Unfolding,” was one of eight chapbooks accepted for publication in the 2025 Finishing Line Press Open Chapbook Competition.
Nancy Sobanik is a poet who has work curated by Triggerfish Critical Review; Sparks of Calliope-nominated for Best of The Net 2023 and Pushcart 2024; Verse-Virtual; Sheila-Na-Gig; The Ekphrastic Review and One Art. She was awarded second and third place in the Maine Postmark Contest 2023 and 2024. In her poetry she explores transitional and liminal spaces, and is currently working on her debut collection. Justice issues concerning marginalization, bias and disparities are important to her.
A Registered Nurse, she is also employed by her German Shepherd Cosmo as a treat distributor, hiking companion and stick thrower.
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” – Aristotle
Wonderful, Nancy! Congratulations!