When it comes to giving props to the contributors in Issue 5, it’s hard to know where to start. The fabulously whimsical cover art is Stephanie Chambers—notice how the titles of her pieces beckon the reader to create a story out of them, and notice, too, how the story doesn’t quite follow from frame to frame. Title trickery! And Tereza Swanda’s work is both complex and mischievously simple—an alphabet created from “mothering” acts: here is the dust from sweeping the garage, there, from the windowsill. But Suzanne Heyd’s work handily wins the Fitting the Storyscape Mission Statement Award. Words typed in differently colored ink onto sample paint chips and then “erased” by layers of white paint in varying density to leave spare, beautifully crafted poems? Yes, please.

We don’t have themed issues, but we love it when stories teach us what we never knew to ask about. If you’ve been curious about what it’s like to take a job as a fake patient beset by a series of fake illnesses, check out Robert Isenberg’s “Playing Doctor.” If you’ve been dying to know more about the rich anatomical history of the clavicle, “Aves, Hominidae: An Anatomical History, in Brief” is probably more your scene. If you’ve been wondering how it’s possible to be both an only child and the oldest of three, the youngest of two, the oldest of two, and the middle of three, four, five and seven… well, Ginny Buccelli’s “One Simple List” can help you out with that.

I can’t help but mention, also, how fall-off-your-chair funny Melanie Roeder’s piece is, and how gorgeously serious Jaime Warburton’s piece is (not to mention perfectly titled—the feeling is one of relief). Perhaps the best example of a piece both hilarious and tenderly poignant is Ken Cormier’s “This Poem”—a fictional introduction to a poem not written. But perhaps you’d rather hear the searing, gut-wrenching truth: in that case I recommend Elana Bell. Or something wild, playful, O’Hara-esque—check out Nick Thran’s work, whose poem titles are so sinuous they don’t quite fit on the table of contents. Roger Sedarat’s clever work skillfully plays with form—the Persian baharieh. And finally, we are beyond pleased to present to you three poems by Kate Johnson—graceful, spare, as though the soul is trying to tell its story through the trap of time.

As if Issue 5 weren’t exciting enough, we are also pleased to introduce our very first print anthology, which contains issues 4 and 5 in their entirely (minus what can’t be printed on paper) and a smattering of pieces that we felt defined us from issues 1, 2, and 3. You can get your hands on a copy by clicking the “store” link on our table of contents page, but why wait? You can also order one here: http://stores.lulu.com/storyscape

Thanks, and happy Storyscaping,
Anne Hays.