Creative Nonfiction, #21, Winter 2021-22
Wendy Fontaine, Green Pepper Standoff Garry Howze, Learn Your Letters Ann Kathryn Kelly, Propped Dana Shavin, All You Can't Eat Catherine Stratton, Our Secret Melissent Zumwalt, The Swing Set
Featured Artist
Not sure how we accomplished this, but today, February 1, is both the release of a new issue of Longridge Review AND opening day for submissions to our next issue. It would be groovy to believe I can accomplish this on the regular, but I think I’ll simply be grateful for the confluence.
Speaking of gratitude, I am awash in awe over our writers and artists. I feel this way every time we roll out an issue, but never take it for granted. Part of my mind holds back on expecting to love “the next issue” as much as I love the one or ones before it.
(Apparently, the universe is not humming along to the tune of my personal limitations Who knew, right?).
The diversity of CNF form, subject, tone, and conflict in these pieces is rich. You might notice a loose connection between all of them to relationships with fathers or father figures; in my first reads I didn’t notice it, but during the editing process it was impossible to miss. I learn so much from our writers, from their transparency and their willingness to dig deep, to put their humanity and that of those who brought them up in front of us readers and say, “This is who I was, who they were, and therefore part of who I am.”
What gets to me in this issue is how brave people can discover and own important turning points in their lives. There’s always a pivot, and I can feel the writers turning toward their personal sun. We don’t always see them walk into it, but somehow, I know they do.
Enjoy!
EDG
longridgereview.com 