Letter: V1I3

Where Art and Community Intersect

Volume no. 1 – Fall

 
Welcome to the fall 2010 issue of Newfound. The many thought-provoking contributions within these pages elicit pivotal themes that center on community awareness and the transformative power of human relationships. Vitality, élan, cooperation—many of our contributors explore these concepts and how they change the way humans relate to others in our communities, to idealized concepts of the self, and, importantly, to the more than human world. Symbolically, perhaps, Simone Muench’s poem, “Wolf Cento,” is this issue’s fount. Muench’s poetic rendering of borrowed verses—the cento—reminds us that the creative power of collaboration not only yields great art, but also strengthens the communal bonds on which we depend for our survival. Daniel Keltner’s review of Massimo Vitali’s beach photography destabilizes the contentious relationships inherent in our idealized perceptions of leisure, exposing in vibrant and shocking images the complex disconnect between humanity and place. Kate Sayre’s “Fair Game,” conversely, demonstrates how public art can restore these broken connections by finding hope where art and community intersect.

The three writers who contribute to our fiction section in this issue contend with the manifest challenges that underlie all human relationships: Mary Hamilton satirically reminds us of love’s metaphoric violence, while Elizabeth Cameron and Peg Alford Pursell explore the ways that love can engender, at times, a profound sense of loss. Poetry from Curtis Jensen and Caroline Klocksiem elicit ethereal connections to place that expose the sublime chaos within our internal landscapes—landscapes whose roots seem deeply entwined with our ethical responsibilities toward humanity. Cameron Turner’s interview with Foodprint Project founders Nicola Twilley and Sarah Rich, reveals the power that emerges when individuals work together to create sustainable, organic, locally-grown food. In our reviews, Gwynne Middleton examines Josh Weil’s The New Valley, a collection that underscores the oft-overlooked literary value of the novella. In Glen Blake’s Return Fire, Marc Watkins finds mastery within the regional representation of place, while Caitlin McCrory uncovers hope within Mark Nowak’s shocking exposé of the coal mining industry in Coal Mountain Elementary.

Part of our vision at Newfound centers on the intentional exploration of non-traditional perspectives of the physical world. The contributors in this issue remind us that the value of these explorations derives from the ways in which we share them with one another. Please enjoy these pages and join us in this communal enterprise by contributing your own comments to the journal.
 

Eric Stottlemyer
Eric Stottlemyer, Managing Editor

0 comments on “Letter: V1I3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *