I'm wondering where wonder started. And how. I have my suspicions. In this country, maybe it dawned in Texas caves. On this country's southern border in Texas's Lower Pecos Region, where cultures don't clash as much as overlap, I visited this summer some of the nation's oldest cave art sites. Many of them accessible only along the Rio Grande, the rock shelter sites open up to the water like eye sockets. Within these wind-hollowed spaces, images of three, four, maybe five thousand years old remain etched as part and parcel of the stones' memory. Wonder possibly emerged in human beings with the advent of inner images, with the capacity to notice, retrieve, discuss, and even make meaning from them. Through such images spirits visit--at least so our ancestors likely thought some 45,000 years ago. What we see is what we often deem real.
Our eyes bore and continue to bear ideas. The word "idea" after all stems from the Greek ideo--"to see." So with this issue, writers and artists converse. Tongue and eye meet. Word and image at times reflect one another; at other times, they converse; at other times, one inspires the other.
Poet Adriana DiGennaro's poem "Weather Forecast" re-sees sun's child. Per our request, artist and graphic designer Lou Pollock gracefully responded to the poem with her image "Waking Up." Here words inspire and play off of image. Photographer Richard L. Bruner and poet Esther Rosenfeld teamed up to create a series of 13 poem-image pieces collectively called Calendar that capture the simple magic of the Catskills' seasons. Here image and word reflect one another like autumn leaves on a pond. We share "July" with you; it stood out particularly because of the poem's focus on an image's capacity to burn itself into our memory. Word and image tease one another in Tara Zafft's poems and Nicolas Genty's photographs from France and Prague. Interior spaces, emotional lines, and textured walls play off of one another.
Guest assistant editor Laura Didyks helped gather, review, and cull these selections. A hearty thanks to Laura for volunteering her time and energy. A poet, author, and editor, she edits and contributes to the retreat center Kripalu's newsletter.
Enter here for the WonderWritings 2.2 table of contents.
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Beginning with this issue, we will publish WonderWritings semi-annually instead of quarterly. Our next issue, 3.1/ Winter-Spring 2007, will come out in February 2007.
Again, we remain grateful to you talented writers who continue to support this endeavor and to you generous readers who send us words of appreciation. Please read below to see how else you can join the wonder and become involved in WonderWritings.
Letters to the Editor/Readers Response: Should any of you wish to send "Letters to the Editor," we would like to include such a section for readers in future issues. Please send your notes, responses, and letters to info@centertopage.com with "Letter to Editor" in the email subject box. Please include your full name, email address, and city and state.
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WonderWritings seeks
innovative poems, essays, or fictional stories that explore the wonder
of this physical world and physical existence. We seek to highlight the work of
new writers next to that of established writers. Tone and subject matter
need not be uplifting or inspirational; in fact, a more inquisitive tone
may be more suitable. Preference given to works with qualities of an embodied
style--sensual imagery, intimate detail, organic metaphor, musicality,
complexity. It is not unusual for a writer to be asked to revise part of
his or her work for re-consideration. All rights revert to the author.
Artists with digital images of their work also may submit their work.
Sending Submissions: Send submissions single-spaced via email to wonder@centertopage.com or info@centertopage.com with "Wonder Writing Submission" in the subject box. Please send work within the email text box and include a two-to-three sentence author bio that includes the city and state where you live. Please be sure to indicate to which issue you are submitting--and please follow our simple guidelines. We will respond approximately within six weeks of receiving your submission depending upon our publication schedule.
Call for Submissions for Prose of Wonder, Wonder of Prose Winter-Spring 2007 (3.1) Issue: We wish to spotlight the wonder of prose and prose of wonder. Fiction, fable, nonfiction, memoir. We especially seek nonfiction essays that can illuminate the imagination with wondrous information and insight on otherwise potentially dull topics. Read Lewis Thomas on biology, Richard Selzer on surgery, Annie Dillard on weasels or moths, Ted Kooser on his Nebraska neighborhood, or G.K. Chesterton on a piece of chalk. But prose pieces outside this range we'll gladly consider. Prose poems we'd also like to receive.
Submissions for the Winter-Spring 2007 issue accepted until January 15.
Archives
WonderWritings
1.1
WonderWritings
1.2
WonderWritings: the e-zine of simple awe
a
bi-annual
publication from CenterToPage
founded 2005
Editor: Jeff
Davis
New York
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