m review — editor's letters — alisha sumpter — margie doolan — 2006 staff
Editor's Letter
~ Editor Letter from Alisha Sumpter ~
It is a general linguistic belief that communication sprang from a basic human need to tell stories. M Review, Marylhurst University's online journal of literary and visual arts, was created from this same basic need. We created this edition out of our need to present stories, art, hard work, and creativity.
As my last official task to finishing my Senior year, it is my pleasure and honor to introduce to you the 2006 edition of M Review. Now in its 5th year, the magazine has grown by leaps and bounds. This year, I am proud to include works from all over the United States and would like to give thanks to everyone who submitted. It has been an honor to serve as editor in this growing tradition here at Marylhurst University.
From the beginning to the very end, this edition would not be what it is without the hard work, dedication, creativity, and insight of all of our staff members. Visit the Staff Page to view the names of these stellar individuals.
Thank you, Van Wheeler, for another rewarding year. We have all learned so much from your insight and guidance.
I would like to thank Marjorie Sandor for her willingness to answer a few questions for this year's Author Interview about her collection of short stories, "Portrait of my Mother, who Posed Nude in Wartime." Her collection of stories is filled with beautiful prose riddled by complex secrets, both told and untold; it is a portrait of a family painted by a narrator as told through her own experiences.
I would also like to offer a special thank you to the judges of our writing contest: Natalie Serber (Short Fiction), Kathy O'Shaughnessy (Creative Non-Fiction), and Paulann Petersen (Poetry). These individuals volunteered their time, effort, and expertise to judge the 2nd Annual M Review Writing Competition and we hope you will enjoy their contribution on the Contest page.
I would like to thank Nina Longfield for another brilliant design for M Review. Without her efforts, long hours, and infinite patience, there wouldn't be the beautiful design holding together all the amazing works that you see before you now. Nina, your dedication to M Review and all of your contributions are greatly appreciated.
This edition holds an array of works from the creative and talented, the aspiring and established, artists and authors. I hope that you find the works as inspiring, entertaining, and memorable as I do.
M Review Editor
~ Editor Letter from Margie Doolan ~
From its inception M Review has been the collection of many and varied voices put together by many hands. The journal's strength comes through its multiple voices. Some voices come in the form of image; photography, painting and mixed media, some come in the form of narrative and prose, and poetry, and some come in the form of editors, readers, web-designers and technicians. Some voices come in through words of support, and through the giving of time. This collective container of art is art. The beauty of it is that no one is the final determining key, and no single player sets the tone. And though it requires a tremendous amount of work, what emerges is as much by happenstance as design. All these voices vibrating together, in harmony and in dissonance, contribute to the final orchestration of the work.
In the 2003 edition of M Review, Editor Tina Carlone, very beautifully wrote that M Review was "a space where individual voices can be heard. In a time of so much dogmatism and fear, it becomes ever more essential for us, all of us, to tell the stories we want and need to tell... It is so easy to feel overwhelmed by the negativity around us and to feel like nothing we do matters. But making art can be the light in the darkness...the window we can all peer in to see a kind of truth, a shared moment of a life." Virginia Woolf said a similar thing in a different way.
She said she wanted to "think peace into existence." Woolf used the form of multiple voice to allow many voices to speak at once, to be discordant, to harmonize, to be singular, and to be collective. The integral components for peace lie in the acts of listening and giving voice and space to diversity. Peace lies not in tradition, harmony, or sameness, but in the acceptance that we are all Other, and where we meet is at the convergence of our 'Otherness.' For me, editing M Review has been an opportunity to enact peace. People, who create, break form, use their voice, and listen, are committing peace acts. In the words of Tina Carlone, what can be more hopeful than that?
Many thanks go to co-editor Alisha Sumpter, web-designer Nina Longfield, and advisor Van Wheeler. Special thanks to Pamela Langley, and all our past editors, for doing such a wonderful job that we were swamped with an abundance of great submissions this year. And much gratitude to Vikki McGuire for her last minute saving effort, and to all the readers, volunteers, and judges. To the Contributors, those included and those that were not, thank you for having the courage, the willingness, or the compulsion as it may be, to put your self out there on the page to share with us. I am really pleased with the unique, resonant sound we have made.
M Review Editor
Please visit our 2006 Staff page to review the list of those remarkable people who have donated their valuable time, effort, creativity, and skills in the development of this year's issue.
