The Boardman Review

12/16/2025

In our Winter Issue, Poppy and Someday, a wellness spa in Traverse City, helps cultivate harmony through the elements in Yin—winter season, including tips and concepts for you to use at home. ❄️

This essay is packed with incredible insights and tips from Kari Jansen on how to take care of your body and mind this winter season. Purchase your Winter Issue now at a regional shop or on our website (https://www.theboardmanreview.com/shop) to make sure you can take advantage of Kari’s helpful essay.

Photos by

Here is an excerpt from the “Bear Medicine” section of Kari’s essay.
“In this kapha season, we can look upon the wisdom of the animals. The bear represents the kapha elements with its solid structure. As winter falls, the bear hibernates and slows into a deep restful state. Before hibernation, they look for herbal allies to protect and build their immunity for the winter. The main herbs are osha root, elderberry, and honey. Osha is a warming expectorant and an anti-microbial lung supporter. If you’re feeling a heaviness in your lungs, then chew on some osha root. Take elderberry infused honey to soothe your throat and heal your upper respiratory system. Make food your medicine.”

12/12/2025

It’s the weekend & our Winter Issue is in a regional store near you 🎁 including !☝🏼Find our full list of stockists at the link in our bio ❄️

12/10/2025

In our Winter Issue, Leelanau Historical Society writes about the rise, fall, & rebirth of Leelanau’s most storied hill, Sugar Loaf, and the people who keep it alive. You don’t want to miss this one! An absolutely stellar essay (and cover image) on Sugar Loaf’s impactful history and the serendipitous confluence of the Leelanau Historical Society’s expansive Sugar Loaf exhibit and the ’s momentous announcement of the preservation of the Sugar Loaf property. ❄️⛷️

Purchase your Winter Issue now on our website (https://www.theboardmanreview.com/shop), at a local shop, or even at LHS’s gift shop, as this is an essay (and cover!) you’ll want to cherish in print.🎁

Here is an excerpt from the essay.
“Rising over 400 feet above the Leelanau County landscape, Sugar Loaf, sculpted by retreating glaciers, has long held meaning for the first people who walked this land. For the Anishinaabek, such prominent landforms hold spiritual significance, believed to bring them closer to their Creator. Like other hilltops and bluffs across the Kchi Wiikwedong, Sugar Loaf served as both a landmark and a gathering place. In the 1700s and 1800s, Sugar Loaf became a wayfinding point for European sailors exploring Michigan’s shores. For Bohemian immigrants, it became a symbol of protection and a reminder of home, an incline a farmer chose not to plant crops on, and a summit where children hiked for picnics and panoramic views. Sugar Loaf has witnessed generations of change, yet it remains a constant in the stories of those who have experienced it. Protecting the hill and all its memories honors not only its ecological significance, but also its deep cultural and community roots stretching back thousands of years.”

12/08/2025

The Winter Issue is here! ⛷️❄️ get yours at a local shop (https://www.theboardmanreview.com/stockists) or on our website (https://www.theboardmanreview.com/shop). An issue or full-year subscription makes a great gift! 🎁 🎄

12/05/2025

Winter Issue Cover Reveal! ❄️⛷️ What a time to be here in northern Michigan, as the iconic Sugar Loaf comes back to life. An absolutely stellar essay by Elizabeth Adams of Leelanau Historical Society Museum on Sugar Loaf’s impactful history and the serendipitous confluence of the Leelanau Historical Society’s expansive Sugar Loaf exhibit and the Leelanau Conservancy’s momentous announcement of the preservation of the Sugar Loaf property.

Not only are we thrilled to share the first look at our cover, but we’re announcing that the Winter Issue is now available for purchase! Click the tBR Shop link in our bio to order your copy in time for the Holiday season. This edition leans into the reflective depth of the season, gathering voices, stories, and creative perspectives shaped by the landscapes and spirit of Northern Michigan.

To celebrate, please join us for our Winter Issue Release Party this Sunday, December 7th from 4–6pm at The Little Fleet in Traverse City. We’ll have issues on hand, a cozy winter atmosphere, a mini-holiday market, food by Crocodile Palace (!), and plenty of good company to welcome in the season together. Plus, we’ll share the premiere of a short film celebrating local artist and musician Dana Falconberry

12/03/2025

When a hidden ice pillar appears near Marquette along the Lake Superior shoreline, photographer and a few ice-climbing friends race time, weather, and legend to capture the fleeting beauty of this rare and wild climb.

To see more of Fischer’s amazing photography, and to read the rest of his essay, make sure you secure a copy of our Winter Issue by purchasing a print subscription right now! Get one at the tBR Shop link in our bio.

Here is an excerpt from Fischer’s photo essay:
Vaughn had gone out to Hidden Beach by himself one night—he said he had “ants in his pants” and needed to climb—and wandered around the corner to a small cove where, to his knowledge, no route had ever been recorded. But he found himself staring at a 40-foot-tall stalactite of ice shot down the middle of an amphitheatre of red and white sandstone.

Vaughn snapped a picture before climbing out on a different route over at Hidden Beach, and a week later, he’d almost forgotten about the mysterious pillar. But driving home from a weeklong climbing trip in the Canadian Rockies, he checked his phone to discover that someone else had stumbled across the climb, and word had spread quickly. “Everyone locally was going crazy,” Vaughn said, shocked to find a never-before-seen climb just a few miles from town. A group of climbers had already lapped it on toprope, but no one had climbed it on lead yet, and the first free ascent was just lying there, waiting for Vaughn to claim it.

12/01/2025

In our Winter Issue, musician & artist Dana Falconberry discovers healing and belonging through the ghost pipe, a rare wildflower that becomes her silent guide into the deeper spirit of Northern Michigan’s landscape 🎴🌲

Dana will be at our Winter Issue Release Party this Sunday Dec. 7th @ 4pm at The Little Fleet to read an excerpt from her story, and will have a table with artwork available for purchase. We’ll also be screening an exciting new short film we produced featuring Dana's studio and artwork, with a sneak peak into her craft that will fit perfectly with her story in our Winter Issue. 🎥

Here’s an excerpt from Dana’s story:
"I never say this sort of thing, but it really was love at first sight. There you were, suddenly, impossibly, an apparition. You stood tall between two trees when I met you, still and confident, the low orange midsummer sun dusting your shoulders. At once you radiated power and humility, strength and fragility, all of this clear as day with one look at you. If my jaw dropped I apologize, but you were actually glowing. I had never seen anything like you. I think I felt, even then, that I was forever changed by this moment. I had fallen in love with my first flower."

11/21/2025

Our Winter Issue Release Party will be Dec. 7th 4-6PM at Fleet! ❄️🙌🏼 If you haven’t been to one of our winter parties at The Little Fleet, you’re in for a cozy treat. As usual, we’ll share with you the voices of the people that grace our newest issue (see below for a preview!), with readings from poignant essays, poetry, and winter-themed motivation. We’ll also be screening an exciting new short film we produced featuring artist , with a sneak peak into her craft that will fit perfectly with her story in our Winter Issue. Stay tuned for our issue cover reveal!

As we’ve done for our Winter Release parties in the past, we’ll have a mini holiday market set up, for a chance to get ahead on gift giving courtesy of some of our featured makers. Finally, you know that The Little Fleet always has the right drinks and food (!) for the occasion. We can’t wait to share this Sunday afternoon with you, so we hope you can make it.

The Winter Issue features —

- A quietly powerful collection of river-rooted prose poems by Michael Delp ()

- A reflection on how a rare wildflower becomes a guide into Northern Michigan’s deeper spirit by

- Sugar Loaf: A Hill, a Community, a Legacy by
An exploration of Leelanau’s most storied hill and the community working to preserve it by the

- by Kari Jansen
Offering winter Yin practices and elemental guidance you can bring into your home.

- A thrilling account of the first—and second—free ascents of a hidden ice pillar along the Lake Superior shoreline by writer & photographer . See photo!

10/15/2025

In the Fall Issue, ’s path home to her ancestors, guided by water, community, and the healing rhythms of the Jingle Dress Dance 🌌

To read Amanda Westra's incredibly personal and poignant essay, grab a Fall Issue from our online shop or at a regional store near you! (https://www.theboardmanreview.com/shop). Amanda also read from her piece at our Fall Issue Release Party (see 3rd photo) at on 8th, our 3rd year collaborating with &

Here is an excerpt from Amanda’s essay:
“For most of my life, I thought something was wrong with me. I’d watch my peers follow the path set out for them: school, jobs, timelines that made sense. I just couldn’t. I could hit goals and succeed in the way America defines success, but only if I was also making time to go get lost outside. At the time, I thought I was just running away from things. But in the work I do now, seeing young people find healing in nature, I realized—you were never lost, you were being called home.”

10/14/2025

10/08/2025

In our Fall Issue, Lauren Dahl of shares the story of how it came to life. More than a school, it is a community rooted in craft, tradition, and connection. Dahl traces the folk school movement from its Danish beginnings to its current revival across the U.S., showing how spaces of making and storytelling can help us live more grounded, connected lives. Dahl’s essay is both a history and an invitation—a reminder that in slowing down and learning together, we discover what it truly means to belong.

Our Fall Issue cover features their story and shows jars of natural dyes, which were then used to dye clothing, see image 4. Order your Fall Issue now on our website, at a regional store, or purchase an annual print subscription to read the full story and our other amazing Fall Issue stories. Links to all in our bio!

Here is an excerpt from Lauren’s story on the Green Door Folk School:
“We imagined a space where people could gather to learn life skills and explore craft in community. We wanted Green Door Folk School to be a place where skilled makers could pass on their knowledge so that it might be reimagined in the context of each individual’s life. We believe that when we share what we know, and learn from and alongside one another, we become more grounded, generous, and whole.”

Photography by , & ⚡️

10/03/2025

The Fall Issue is now available on our website (https://www.theboardmanreview.com/shop) & in stores, including at The Folded Leaf 🙌🏼 we’re sitting cozy next to some May Erlewine cds & records 🌌

On our delivery we also caught Jeff Haas warming up for a show, gotta love this creative community we have full of artists, musicians, and gathering spaces ❤️