The IMPAC-Connecticut State University
Young Writers Competition
Home
CONNECTICUT REVIEW FALL 05 PREVIEW
The fall issue of Connecticut Review will be back from the printer in a few weeks. Now is the time
to subscribe to this national literary journal published by the Connecticut State University System.
In the past few years CT Review has won awards from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals and National Public Radio; pieces published in the magazine have won Pushcart Prizes and appeared Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, and Best American Poetry.
Here are some snapshots of what's inside the Fall 2005 issue.
o Jim Kacian, editor of an influential haiku journal takes readers on a round-the-world
haiku tour and introduces them to practitioners of this ancient form from Serbia to New Zealand.
There are, naturally, many haiku themselves in his account.
o Poet and novelist Richard Moore offers an hilarious look at America's lethal addiction to
our material productivity, what he calls our "killer economy." At one point Moore opines,
"There is so much to do now because now there is nothing to do."
o The world of medieval mystics, particularly female mystics, has been shrouded in mystery. Lydia Peterson exposes it to light with her translation of a 13th century account of the "The Life of Elisabeth." The document provides a stunningly intimate look at the trance states, bleeding hands, and self-abuse experienced by this obscure peasant girl in a small town in Belgium.
o In the poem "English 101" Hyan Charara explores challenges faced by college teachers
trying to connect with students who lack basic knowledge. "Do I always have to refer to
Hollywood," the narrator asks. "Class," he goes on, "here's the story. Shakespeare composed
sonnets for Gwyneth Paltrow."
o Couplets of innocent child-like meter cascades the reader toward a heart-wrenching and
unexpected experience of grief in "An AIDS Alphabet," one of several new poems CT Review is
publishing in this issue by well-known poet, and Connecticut resident, Dick Allen.
o Sant Khalsa's black and white photograph is reminiscent of Shelly's "Ozymandias." Two
leg-like concrete pillars support a massive lintel with the name "Bloom School" inscribed across it. On the desolate Kansas prairie these are all that remain of the vanished building and vanished lives that B.H. Fairchild memorializes in the accompanying poem: "My wife and I made love here last night," Fairchild writes, "I manage kitchenware at Wal-Mart"
o Prof. George P. Landow of Brown University is considered a "hypertext guru." Founder and webmaster of the Victorian Web and the Cyberspace and Hypertext web, he pioneered new forms for the digital classroom and digital scholarship. Jeffrey F. L. Partridge interviews Landow about the past and future story of hypertext.
o Is it harder to lose your own grip on reality or watch as a parent slips away? In Walter Cummins' fiction "Hiding Place" we enter the dark and scary world of a young boy forced to cope with his mother's mental deterioration as she succumbs to multiple personality disorder.
o Painter Cindy Tavernise shows a child's teddy bear lying in folds of cloth on a sofa. Lifelike, cast off, and inanimate, "Sparkle" subtly captures the sadness and promise of growing up.
o Peggy Stewart's photograph, "Alice," found on another page of our art gallery, makes the reader think twice about the relationship of imagination to reality.
That's just some of what's in this 212 page issue.
Subscriptions to the semi-annual journal can be ordered by sending
a check to Connecticut Review, Connecticut State University System,
39 Woodland St., Hartford, CT 06105-2337. The annual rate is $24;
for 2 years, $40. Connecticut Review is also sold at local bookstores.
Order forms are available @ ctyoungwriters.org
Send manuscripts to:
John Briggs, Senior Editor
Connecticut Review
Connecticut State University System
39 Woodland Street
Hartford, CT 06105-2337