 |
Shortly after the September 11th attack, I received a poem sent by a friend - W.H. Auden's "September 1, 1939." It is set in an earlier September which was also on the brink of war. Sitting in "one of the dives / On Fifty-second street," Auden observed how "Waves of anger and fear / Circulate over the bright / And darkened lands of the earth, / Obsessing our private lives; / The unmentionable odour of death / Offends the September night." He ends this poem - if not his life's work - saying: "May I, . . . Show an affirming flame." I am writing my first column as editor in a time when the media are filled with the images and language of war. I thought it would be appropriate to begin by stating my belief that there is indeed an affirming flame to be found in poetry and fiction - a flame that we need now more than ever. I also thought it appropriate to tell readers about the affirming flame that we have seen here with the recent, remarkable, story of this journal. With the announced retirement last spring of Editor George Sanderson and his wife, Gert, The Antigonish Review found itself at something of a crossroads. While TAR has been printed and distributed to readers throughout the world for 32 years, there is always the risk with journals that survive on the kindness of volunteers and granting agencies that the lights will go out when the Editor closes the doors. Happily, TAR is alive and well and flourishing under a new Editorial Co-operative structure. I was asked to take on the role of Editor last spring and, in a real sense, the past few months have been a test of support from the literary community, the academic community, the grants community, and the town and county that bear the name of this journal. With the notion that many willing hands might be able to do the work the Sandersons have done for two decades, we set about, and have since added, l1 new, talented people to the Editorial Co-operative, and 7 new editorial positions. New ideas, new energy, and renewed support have all been offered. This issue contains the work of our winners from the first annual Great Blue Heron Contest and, with our recent Canada Council grant and the continued support of St FX, we are also announcing our 2nd annual Great Blue Heron Contest in this issue (also look for details on our Website). But there is much more. On October 17, we held a Gala Launch to introduce our first issue and our Co-operative (again, see our Website). We had poetry and short story readings from our Summer issue, jazz, and a wine and cheese reception. Amidst this celebration, I had the distinct pleasure of introducing the new, and not-so-new, members of the expanded Editorial Co-operative. I also had the pleasure of being able to thank St FX and the Canada Council for their continued financial support, and was delighted to thank the Mayor and Town of Antigonish for sponsoring the launch itself. What can readers look forward to into the future? In addition to the upcoming 2nd annual Great Blue Heron Poetry Contest, we want to bring about a closer marriage of literature and the visual arts. We are continuing to celebrate the work of Maritime artists on the cover and are now featuring the same artist throughout the same issue. Readers may have noted the bright, fresh look of our Summer Issue with the reproduction of one of Steven Rhude's paintings - a Nova Scotian artist. Carol Kennedy is our featured artist for this Fall issue. This new look is thanks to our new Art Editor, Gillian McCulloch. We are also busy exploring better uses of our Website, including the concept of a virtual art gallery to feature and promote the cover artist's work. We are working towards on-line subscribing for the convenience of readers, all with the help of our new Website Editor, David Coyle. Gerry Trites is in the new position of Associate Editor/Finance; Jeanette Lynes occupies both the new position of Associate Editor/Promotions and continues as Book Review Editor. They are key to the success of the new Co-operative. Meanwhile, Josephine Mensch continues to handle proofreading (in several languages), assemblage, and is our new Managing Editor. We are delighted that Anne Simpson continues on as our Fiction Editor. We have added some new fiction reviewers to assist Anne, including Richard Cumyn, Martin MacDonald, Leo Furey, and Leo MacKay. Meanwhile, we are so pleased that familiar names such as Sheldon Currie, Reynold Stone, Veronica Ross, and Jim Taylor remain on the masthead as fiction reviewers. Peter Sanger remains as our stalwart Poetry Editor, and we have recently been joined by Tony Tremblay and Ellen Rose in the new position of Essays & Articles Editors. John Reigle joins us as Design Consultant and - to highlight the person who really runs this journal - Bonnie McIsaac remains as our Office Manager. Thankfully, George Sanderson has agreed to remain on as Advising Editor. Without the work of the Sandersons, and Father McSween before them, the flame would not have been there to affirm this new venture. Looking at this current issue, we have chosen articles and poetry to capture something of a global theme. Readers travel from Toledo, Spain; to East Europe; to Algiers. The setting shifts from a North African desert in early spring, to wine tasting in the autumn of one's life. We move from inner reflections to the world according to Satan. Auden said, "I have but a voice." The Antigonish Review is here to enable voices to be heard. In these times, and times to come.
|
|
|
|
