Welcome to the March, 2010 issue of Connotation Press: An Online Artifact. This month we have exciting offerings in Nonfiction, Poetry, Fiction, Food & Wine, Travel, Drama, Book Review, and a new Featured Undergrad. Enjoy!Before I dish out the usual introductions for this month's Artifact, I thought I'd take a moment to give a shout-out to all our editorial staff. Producing a twice-monthly magazine is brutal, but it's made even more painful by the fact that February has only 28 days this year. Now you might be thinking 28 is not so bad, it's only three less than 31. Well, my math conscious freakshow, yes, it is only three days less, but as an editor of a column it means that the work usually due on the 15th is now due on the 12th, which in turn means all the contributors must also bump up their deadlines. Here's another example going the other way, let's say your paycheck is due to hit your empty bank account on Friday but it doesn't actually post until Monday and you're trying to get out of town to catch the end of the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans. Three days is starting to sound like quite a bit now, huh? Huh? Yeah, I thought so. For all the hard work they do, and I swear they never complain, I would thank all my editorial staff for the kick-ass job they do to make my job easier. Thanks to Amanda, Hoppy, Josh F., Josh H., Kaite, Natalie, Katie, and the newest member of our editorial staff, Nick! You guys totally rock.
And with that I'll break down Issue VI, March 2010:
WE HAVE CAMPBELL MCGRATH!!!! No, seriously, we really do! Hoppenthaler's Congeries this month rocks like kids from the '50's (you know, around the clock!). Hoppy has brought us the following artists, and this list will knock you out--fair warning: Wyn Cooper, Kelly Cherry, Alberto Rios, Lesley Dauer, Marcia Southwick, E. Ethelbert Miller, Gary Fincke, Jesse Lee Kercheval, Virgil Suarez, Suzanne Lummis, Todd Davis, and Campbell McGrath! Also, John has written a loving tribute to Lucille Clifton, who we miss so much already.
On a completely different note, what do you feed your dog? This month’s Plate to Palate with Amanda McGuire looks into the narratives of pet owners and focuses on the food we feed our pets. Check out the interesting, funny, and loving tributes written by pet lovers, and some of the cool recipe ideas for feeding our best friends.
I’m also excited to welcome our new travel editor, Nicholas Baker! Nick lives in London with his husband Freddie, and they travel more than David Beckham. OK, maybe not as much as Beckham, but A LOT! In this month’s inaugural post, Nick and Freddie take us to Scotland for some drinking, and sightseeing, and drinking, and kilt eyeing, and food, and drinking. Sweet! Welcome Nick! It looks like he’s going to fit in real well here.
Our drama editor, Joshua Fardon, has brought us yet another installment in “who’s who” of contemporary playwriting. This month he’s brought Fielding Edlow’s new play The Something-Nothing and an interesting interview with the author. On a side note, Issue IV (January) contributor Erik Patterson along with this writing partner Jessica Scott won a Writer’s Guild of America award in February for their screenplay, “Another Cinderella Story” (ABC Family), in the category of Long Form or Special. Congratulations to Erik and Jessica!
This month’s issue also comes clean with a new nonfiction piece by Kate Kimball, a fiction piece by Diane Payne, a book review by Adolfo Mejia, and our off-the-hook featured undergraduate of the month Andi Stout who was nominated by the brilliant fiction writer and her professor at WVU, Emily Mitchell.
Connotation Press: Don’t You Know it Could Have Been Me
This issue of Connotation Press: An Online Artifact is dedicated to Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010). In addition to being the first author ever to have two books simultaneously chosen as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, she was the Poet Laureate of the state of Maryland, a National Endowment for the Arts fellow, a National Book Award winner, an Emmy Award winner, a Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize winner, a Lannan Literary Award winner, and her first book was chosen as one of NY Times 10 best books of the year. And through all that and a series of health problems that hunted her down she was extremely generous with her work, her time, and her patience as a teacher. Our love goes out to the friends, family, and readers touched so kindly by this extraordinary wordsmith.On a personal note, get well soon Dad. And don't worry, we got your back. We're Robidoux's and we sure as hell don't give up! A special thanks to Ronda Robidoux Kane for the lovely picture.