Welcome to Issue II, Volume IV: October 2012 of Connotation Press: An Online Artifact.
The first thing I must do is apologize for the lateness of this post. Whereas the magazine posted on time my blog did not. The reason for this is a painful one. My father, Larry Charles Robidoux, passed away September 19th and I've been back and forth from our home office in Morgantown, WV to his home in Apple Valley, California.
In his life my Dad was one of the very first surfers in California, he was a top-shelf, race-team mechanic, an automobile and speedboat racer, one of the first off-road motorcycle racers who hung out with the likes of Steve McQueen, and he won over 200 car shows with his '46 Ford-- but it was of his family that he was most proud.
My dad was also a hard working man, and if he were still around I'm sure Dad would say it was about time I get back to work. And although I'm still entirely exhausted let's kick this pig and see what it'll do.
John Hoppenthaler's Congeries ROCKS this month with yet another in our series of Pulitzer Prize winners: Stephen Dunn! I had the pivilege of studying with Mr. Dunn about ten years ago and it was as spectacular an experience as one would expect. John then brings in a team project with poet Bruce Bond and world renowned artist Aron Wiesenfeld. DO NOT MISS this one. And if all that isn't enough, John delivers new work from Patricia Spears Jones, Adrienne Su, Mark Jay Brewin, Jr., Rachel Hadas, Faith Shearin, and Peter Jay Shippy. Finally, don't miss John's blog as he spends a little time revisiting the literature of monsters and madness for your Halloween month enjoyment. Enjoy!
From Plate to Palate with Amanda McGuire has a short but satisfying column entry this month that discusses the connections between yoga & food canning. You've got to love the way Amanda connects things.
Travel editor Nicholas Baker takes us on another wonderful e-vacation this month to the Loire Valley of France! GORGEOUS pictures accompany the wonderful and descriptive travelogue for which Nicholas has become famous. Join Nicholas, Freddy, and friends as they Discover the Loire Valley.
Fresh off being a finalist for the 2013 Alec Baldwin Fellowship at the Singers Forum, "Transcendence" is the BRILLIANT new play by our former Drama editor Joshua Fardon -- a social commentary on social networking and the psychosis of facebook. Editor Kathleen Dennehy launches the interview proceeding the play with the following, "I actually gasped audibly (more than once) while reading your play. It is so powerful, funny & scary!!! Your dialogue, characters and plotlines veer from comic absurdity and brilliant current social commentary to terrifying, breath-holding dramatic tension- and somehow makes Facebook the most powerful sociopathic-building, socially acceptable application to create shape shifting, identity-stealing narcissistic stalkers. I just love this play!!" We're thrilled to have this new piece by Josh this month.
This month, A Drinker with a Writing Problem, with John Turi introduces us to Les Origines: Chateaneuf-du-Pape, 2009, a wine we here at the home office cannot pronounce. But John makes it easy with an informative, descriptive, and gentle explanation of this exceptional bottle of heaven.
And Erica Goss gets us ready for the 6th Zebra Film Poetry Festival in Berlin by introducing us to some of the featured artists of the event in her Third Genre column. Erica will be attending the festival this year and bringing back interviews, pictures, and a grip of new information regarding this exciting and invigorating art form.
Book Review editor Stephanie Brown breaks out her pen and paper and handles the book review this month by herself with a review of Jeanette Winterson's new collection, "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?" GREAT to have Stephanie's brilliant analysis back on the pages of Connotation Press.
Finally, our mid-month teasers for Fiction & Creative Nonfiction are Jacqueline Vogtman for Fiction and the return of Jackie McNamara in our Creative Nonfiction column. BRILLIANT writers, both, and please don't forget to come back on the 15th to see all our new offerings in Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction and some surprises that we know you'll like.
I guess that's about it for now. I'm doing my best to pick up the pieces of my life without my dad, and my sisters & I wish to thank everyone for their support, kindness, and compassion during this horrendously difficult time. My old man was one of a kind and he will be sorely missed.
Connotation Press: Keep Me In Your Heart For A While
This issue of Connotation Press is dedicated to my dad, Larry Charles Robidoux. Miss you, old man, every day.