MOVING WRITERS FROM THE CENTER TO THE PAGE

        

   

JOIN THE WONDER

 

Last week, my dear friends Michael and Wendy birthed a beautiful six-pound dream named Amelie. "It means 'love,'" Michael said. "No, it means 'admirable and industrious," Wendy quickly retorted. And so Amelie is held and reared by love and industry--the ancient progenitors of creative dreams everywhere.

Out here, each green blade of grass appears as a dream fulfilled. The mountains and meadows mirror not only our hopes but in fact our successes, however small, of weathering our soul's gray winters and unfolding ourselves, our families, our communities, petal by petal, from the earth's wet soil.
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WonderWritings posits that even in, if not especially during, adverse times a state of wonder can re-awaken us to this phenomenal, material world. Not a literature of escape from ths world, on the contrary, WonderWritings offers a literature of engagement with this world.

WonderWritings 1.3 (Spring 2005) offers  a few select dream-blades in the form of fable, poem, vignette, and sculpture.
Calls for this issue ushered in even more writings than the last issue, and, unfortunately, because we want to keep each issue focused on only three to five writers, we again had to turn away several writers' excellent writings. 

Texas writer Bill Rick brings us a whimsical fable "Fool on the Hill" that reminds us, among other things, how our formal education often obstructs our soul's learning. It's a reminder of Whitman's invitation from Leaves of Grass: "I lean and loaf and invite my soul in." Speaking of Whitman, the bearded muse inspired former New Yorker and current Californian Eric Silverman as in his essay vignette "Ocean" he leaves the Atlantic Coast and looks upon the Pacific. Block Island poet and artist Jen Lighty examines the self's poetic layers in "Broken Mirror" and finds tender affirmations to live in "How to Commit to Life." Connecticut poet and educator Elizabeth Thomas's poem "Winter Paints" reminds us of those wonderful respites during northern winters when warmth blows in unexpectedly, and New York poet and artist Dina Pearlman's poem "Hope of negative space" startles us with quiet, enigmatic fragment-wishes. Sculptures by Cheryl Alexander--our featured artist this issue from New Mexico--give us glimpses of the body's, the heart's, and nature's wonder. The sculpture at the top of this page--"7th Chakra"--reflects the third eye center, that place where we envision dreams.

Each piece in this issue feels born from love and industry, Amelies all of them.

Enter here for the WonderWritings 1.3 table of contents.

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Call for Submissions: Three to five writers' work will be selected for the Autumn 2005 issue. Between July 15 and September 30, WonderWritings seeks innovative poems, essays, or fictional stories that explore the wonder of this physical world and physical existence. Tone and subject matter need not be uplifting or inspirational; in fact, a more inquistive 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 to CenterToPage via email to wonder@centertopage.com or info@centertopage.com with "Wonder Writing Submission" in the subject box. We will respond within six weeks of receiving your submission.

Archives
WonderWritings 1.1
WonderWritings 1.2

WonderWritings
a quarterly publication from CenterToPage Enterprises
founded 2005
Editor: Jeff Davis
Catskills of New York