Editor's Note
Welcome, friends, to autumn and winter. Welcome Diwali and warm houses aglow with golden light. Welcome, thankfuls. Welcome early nights and dark mornings. Welcome Solstice trees, welcome dreidels, wrappings and bows, candles, chalices, feasts and snow. Welcome, ancestors. Welcome, generosity.
And welcome, of course, to the new issue of West Trestle Review. Like many Americans, the WTR team is lumbering down this long,
slow—at times, terrifying—Covid / election road. We've bucked up, borne down, flailed, bolstered each other, flailed again (welcome antidepressants and binge-watching Netflix) and all the while we have cobbled together this issue of WTR. We are proud of it, and we've learned a few things about ourselves along the way: Apparently, we can't resist a lemon-scented poem (though I suspect this will be the last for some time). We are fans of koi (we've got two here!) and existentialism. We are moved by reflections on grief and a clap back at sexism and systemic oppression. We are fans of joy.
This issue features new work by Jerrice J. Baptiste, Allison Blevins, Jhilam Chattaraj, Kai Coggin, Joan Kwon-Glass, Esty Loveing-Downes, Jennifer Martelli, Anindita Sengupta, Jeanne Wagner, Elaine Wilburt, Meg Yardley and Charity Yoro. We are pleased to feature Rage Hezekiah's poem, "Mirabella Pool," as this month’s Fairlies. We also have a few delightful Cross-Ties in the works, and they will be published intermittently in the coming weeks. Finally, we are grateful to Kristin LaFollette for sharing her incredible artwork with us. Check back soon for Olivia Joyce's interview with the artist.
One of WTR's missions is to build bridges in the literary world, so if you love what you find here, please do give our contributors a shout-out on social media.
Some news! In an effort to work toward antiracism, we have made submissions free for all women and non-binary poets and writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian. You are welcome to read more about this decision on our submissions page. Art submissions continue to be free for everyone, and we'll continue our monthly Free Submission Sundays as well, so watch for those to pop up in our social media posts.
That's it for now, dear readers. We hope that cozying up with West Trestle and a cup of tea will help sustain you into the new year.
Until then, write on!
Patricia Caspers
Founding / Managing Editor
And welcome, of course, to the new issue of West Trestle Review. Like many Americans, the WTR team is lumbering down this long,
slow—at times, terrifying—Covid / election road. We've bucked up, borne down, flailed, bolstered each other, flailed again (welcome antidepressants and binge-watching Netflix) and all the while we have cobbled together this issue of WTR. We are proud of it, and we've learned a few things about ourselves along the way: Apparently, we can't resist a lemon-scented poem (though I suspect this will be the last for some time). We are fans of koi (we've got two here!) and existentialism. We are moved by reflections on grief and a clap back at sexism and systemic oppression. We are fans of joy.
This issue features new work by Jerrice J. Baptiste, Allison Blevins, Jhilam Chattaraj, Kai Coggin, Joan Kwon-Glass, Esty Loveing-Downes, Jennifer Martelli, Anindita Sengupta, Jeanne Wagner, Elaine Wilburt, Meg Yardley and Charity Yoro. We are pleased to feature Rage Hezekiah's poem, "Mirabella Pool," as this month’s Fairlies. We also have a few delightful Cross-Ties in the works, and they will be published intermittently in the coming weeks. Finally, we are grateful to Kristin LaFollette for sharing her incredible artwork with us. Check back soon for Olivia Joyce's interview with the artist.
One of WTR's missions is to build bridges in the literary world, so if you love what you find here, please do give our contributors a shout-out on social media.
Some news! In an effort to work toward antiracism, we have made submissions free for all women and non-binary poets and writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian. You are welcome to read more about this decision on our submissions page. Art submissions continue to be free for everyone, and we'll continue our monthly Free Submission Sundays as well, so watch for those to pop up in our social media posts.
That's it for now, dear readers. We hope that cozying up with West Trestle and a cup of tea will help sustain you into the new year.
Until then, write on!
Patricia Caspers
Founding / Managing Editor
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