Issue 3, March 2009
the stories |
So as not to Confuse You
Editor's Note
If you've visited Storyscape before, you may notice that our site design is New and Improved! We now have 25% More Flavor! With daily use, your hair will be Thicker and Fuller!
It happened like this: After we released Issue 2 (which you can still visit through our archives) a few highly intelligent friends of mine wrote in to say, "The site looks great! How do I read the stories?" I found this question alarming. I immediately closed my laptop and went for a run.
We thought about it and realized that those uninitiated with genre headings like Truth, Untruth, and We Don't Know might not immediately realize that stories lived behind those links. If we could just be a normal journal and stick with Fiction, Essay, and Poetry, no one would have found these links confusing. But if we were normal, we wouldn't be Storyscape. Web designer extraordinaire Vivian Shaw came up with this sleek new design so as not to confuse you.
And another thing: In the past few months, while we read submissions, chose pieces, and put this journal together, our world changed dramatically. The economy imploded. Our banks failed. We found out about ponzi schemes and a few surprising scandals. People we know have lost their jobs, and those of us who still have jobs worry about losing them. We watched the old president fly home in a helicopter and overnight the old White House website changed to a new one. There's a lot of fear flying around, and a lot of hope as well. It seems to us that the most positive outcome of establishments failing is that individuals and communities create new establishments. The process of creating a literary journal at this particular time has been unusually rewarding: people are making art. We still have the power to create something where there was once nothing, if we want to. Radio shows, literary journals, blogs, grassroots political movements, community organizing, and above all, art—it's a way of saying "Here we are! We're alive!"
In Issue 3 we're featuring: two audio pieces (“The Sounds of Lunch” by Ken Cormier, and a second appearance by Ryan Scammell with “And I Don't Know What Happened to Him After That”), paintings by Maya Pindyck (whose work is on our cover), photographs by Dae Hoon Kim, three poets (Rebecca Keith, Shira Dentz, Anna Catone), some fabulous prose (check out How Joey Z Saved Us All) and a poem crafted entirely from spam subject headings. We're still doing our Storyscape thing and we're delighted that you're still reading us. Welcome to Issue 3.
-- Anne Hays
Editor's Note
If you've visited Storyscape before, you may notice that our site design is New and Improved! We now have 25% More Flavor! With daily use, your hair will be Thicker and Fuller!
It happened like this: After we released Issue 2 (which you can still visit through our archives) a few highly intelligent friends of mine wrote in to say, "The site looks great! How do I read the stories?" I found this question alarming. I immediately closed my laptop and went for a run.
We thought about it and realized that those uninitiated with genre headings like Truth, Untruth, and We Don't Know might not immediately realize that stories lived behind those links. If we could just be a normal journal and stick with Fiction, Essay, and Poetry, no one would have found these links confusing. But if we were normal, we wouldn't be Storyscape. Web designer extraordinaire Vivian Shaw came up with this sleek new design so as not to confuse you.
And another thing: In the past few months, while we read submissions, chose pieces, and put this journal together, our world changed dramatically. The economy imploded. Our banks failed. We found out about ponzi schemes and a few surprising scandals. People we know have lost their jobs, and those of us who still have jobs worry about losing them. We watched the old president fly home in a helicopter and overnight the old White House website changed to a new one. There's a lot of fear flying around, and a lot of hope as well. It seems to us that the most positive outcome of establishments failing is that individuals and communities create new establishments. The process of creating a literary journal at this particular time has been unusually rewarding: people are making art. We still have the power to create something where there was once nothing, if we want to. Radio shows, literary journals, blogs, grassroots political movements, community organizing, and above all, art—it's a way of saying "Here we are! We're alive!"
In Issue 3 we're featuring: two audio pieces (“The Sounds of Lunch” by Ken Cormier, and a second appearance by Ryan Scammell with “And I Don't Know What Happened to Him After That”), paintings by Maya Pindyck (whose work is on our cover), photographs by Dae Hoon Kim, three poets (Rebecca Keith, Shira Dentz, Anna Catone), some fabulous prose (check out How Joey Z Saved Us All) and a poem crafted entirely from spam subject headings. We're still doing our Storyscape thing and we're delighted that you're still reading us. Welcome to Issue 3.
-- Anne Hays
Copyright © 2009 Storyscape Journal
ISSN 1941-3157