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The Autumn–Winter Issue
This year, the date of the autumn equinox, the time when day and night are approximately of equal length, happens to coincide with this issue's 9/22 release. The fun, interesting aspect of that is how there is a pronounced balance of dark and light in this issue. With little influence from us, the magazine heeded autumn's call. These are the months where there is a literal descent into darkness, and yet, these turns of the calendar pages mark times of celebration festooned with light. In the issue, we discover how descent into internal or external shadow further strengthens and defines that which illuminates. All that is most important shines through.
We've discussed in the past how this season, with its natural metaphors and historical connotations, is viewed as a period when we're meant to take stock of all that has gone before in the year—what we cherish and what, for our well-being, we must relinquish. It is a time of transitions and transformations. To one another, we are the candles in the windows to light the way.
In this issue, we sail into uncharted waters. Though poetry has always flowed through to the very heart of the magazine in reviews, content, contests, special features, essays, and more, we realized—much to our surprise—that there had yet to be a full formal interview focused on this medium that vitally saturates the soul. Who better to captain our voyage than the dynamic Renée Ashley (poet, novelist, and instructor), whose poetic maritime adventures exploring the vast, sometimes raging seas of life, language, truth, and self-discovery, have yielded knowledge of the flowing inner worlds that shape our experience.
Ashley embraces a fluid freedom in her poetry that pours itself into readers, having definite volume, but no fixed form, so it can be just as they need it to be. With her daring skills of navigation around themes of desire, death, dreams, and the divine, we acquire the courage to go deep, to drown in these concepts, knowing it's actually the way to survive.
In our interview, we discuss balances between what is said and what is evoked, the inside and outside of a poem, the intimate and the infinite. We speak of the differences between ideas and impulse in terms of inspiration, how limitations can push us forward, and defining those things that are truer than true.
Renée Ashley is the author of six volumes of poetry: The View from the Body, Because I Am the Shore I Want to Be the Sea, Basic Heart (X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize), The Revisionist’s Dream, The Various Reasons of Light, and Salt (Brittingham Prize in Poetry), as well as two chapbooks, The Verbs of Desiring (New American Press Award) and The Museum of Lost Wings (Sunken Garden Poetry Prize), and a fiction novel, Someplace Like This. She shares her passion and insight as an instructor in Fairleigh Dickinson University’s low-residency graduate programs, including the MFA in Creative Writing and the MA in Creative Writing and Literature for Educators. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (poetry) and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (both in poetry and prose), as well as a Pushcart Prize.
(Overview) Prepare to be enchanted… The autumn-winter issue presents seasonal splendor, somber searches for meaning, musings on change and age, melancholic beauty and alluring magic. An interview with an infectiously passionate poetic soul, liberates mind and spirit, transcending limits and language. The poetry page approaches the mystical and extracts the metaphoric implications of the seasons and cycles of our lives. The fiction section speaks of the importance of choice, resolution, moving on, and letting go. The Our Stories non-fiction page portrays the affecting connections to the people and things that guide and pull us through, fostering human understandings. Our Craft Box features the results of the Writers' Challenge with its two winners and their unique, thought-provoking entries. The artwork lingers in the mind, inspiring contemplation and captivation. Join us by the fireside!
Highlights:
The winter-spring issue will be released January 22nd. 9/22, 1/22 and 5/22 will be our publication schedule going forward with reminders and updates sent out accordingly.
We have a Writers' Craft Box which is a section dedicated to giving writers hints, tools, essays, features on the craft and advice. Think of it as an arts and crafts box full of colors and inspiration...or an old toy chest discovered in the attic on a rainy day... In this edition, we have the results of the Writers' Challenge that was held in honor of our eighth anniversary. We asked participants to find and tell their own stories spoken through the emblematic significance of numbers. Participants were to consider patterns and perceptions about the role numbers play in influencing our lives and how they convey aspects of who we are and what holds value.
Two entries, divergent in both their interpretations and their forms, struck us as meriting equal attention for their ability to make our theme count. Thus, we have a tie, doubling the win: Neal Whitman, for his poem, and Stephen Carey, for his short story. We extend a hearty congratulations to both winners as well as enduring gratitude to all who entered. Read these innovative, stimulating entries!
We have an Archives page where readers and writers can trace our artistic journey from the beginning and re-read the wisdom of writers such as Tracy Chevalier, Janet Fitch, Alice Hoffman, Dennis Lehane, Joanne Harris, Frances Mayes, Arthur Golden, Jodi Picoult, Mona Simpson, and many, many more!
We also have a Scrapbook page celebrating eight years as a publication with words from our contributors for each year. *In the span of 2015, we were read in 80 countries! See the list on the Scrapbook page as well as commentary from contributors on the latest anniversary. See also our comprehensive "Search" feature: type in keywords to search the entire site, including all of the archives.
Please send in new announcements to appear in the next issue by December 15th for the Announcements page. As always, we love to celebrate and support our contributing artists and writers as they accomplish great things on their creative paths and we also like to give news of our publication to our readership. We encourage all contributing writers and artists to tell us of their news so that we can use this page as a forum to help promote their endeavors and showcase the amazing diversity of activity that takes place in our online community.
We have a presence on Facebook via our fan page which offers insights, quotes, tools, resources and updates. Visit Facebook.com and stop by The-Write-Place-at-the-Write-Time-literary-journal page. Follow our Twitter account through @WriteplcWritetm. ***You can also join our e-mail list by providing your e-mail address along with the words "ADD ME" through our feedback form on the Feedback and Questions page.
Inscribing Industry is our associated blog, featuring exercises, articles, book giveaways, special features, reviews and interviews. Click on the newly installed Inscribing Industry tab to go there directly or visit:
http://inscribingindustry.blogspot.com and become a follower!
We are a triannual publication (published three times a year), established in July of 2008. We are listed on the Poets & Writers site (www.pw.org) under literary magazines. Clicking on our listing describes our publication, past issues, and our editorial focus. We are also listed on Newpages.com, EWR, Duotrope Digest, Agentquery.com, P&E and The Review Review. To read more about our philosophies and approach, you can read the interview of our Editor-in-Chief in The Review Review:
http://www.thereviewreview.net/interviews/there-blending-culturesgenerations-and-countries
Our next issue will be our winter-spring issue due out January 22nd. The submissions deadline for the issue is December 15th; we will however, consider extensions until January 1st if notified ahead of time. Please check the submissions guidelines page before submitting and if you have any questions, please write to:
questions (at) thewriteplaceatthewritetime.org
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