Back to School

Today I start back for my last semester of complementary undergrad classes...which means I can start my master's in the fall. Since I last posted I've been doing a lot of reading. For Christmas presents I found some great literary journals that I gave to some of my high school friends that love to read. A quick overview:

Rattle: Poetry for the 21st Century:
A monthly poetry-only journal. The December 2009 issue was dedicated to the sonnet (a 14-line poem made famous by Shakespeare). All sorts of sonnets were highlighted: traditional Shakespearean to inventive backwards sonnets. As the blurb of the magazine aptly says: "there’s nothing more liberating than a little restriction." When writing poetry I've found the same thing, having a pattern beforehand helps to reduce the anxiety of filling the blank page before me. Interesting and innovative, this review is great for those who like to play with language and only want poetry in their issues.

Tin House: A quarterly filled with all types of literature and artwork. Each issue has a theme (work, love, obsessions, winter reading...) and is full of both fiction, non-fiction, and stories related to the theme. And on top of that there's great artwork. I was immediately drawn to the Fall 2009 issue which had the whimsical design of having half the issue dedicated to "dread" and the other half to "hope," each having its own front cover and meeting in the middle. To top it off the pages were upside down of each other. It's hard to explain in fact. I remember having childhood books like it, that had two stories in the same book that started from either end of the book and met in the middle. Anyway, it immediately caught my attention. Since I bought it I learned that my best friend, and poet, has submitted a poem to be published in it. Crossing our fingers!

H.O.W. Journal : A semiannual journal with a great mélange of poetry, short stories (fiction and non-fiction), photography and artwork. I'll let the website speak for itself: H.O.W. Journal is an art & literary journal that publishes an eclectic mix of today's prominent writers and artists alongside upcoming talents with an effort to raise money and awareness for the 15 million children worldwide that have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Honestly I wanted to keep this one for myself, but I gave it to a friend for Christmas anyway. I may just buy myself a copy soon!

White Wall Review: An annual publication of poetry, short stories, artwork, and photography (all in black and white). This one I did keep for myself! Published by the literary society of Ryerson University in Toronto, the stories and poetry are excellent. I especially enjoyed Jennifer Burwell's exerpt from her first work of fiction, Thrown. I also read and reread Adam Seelig's poetry, especially "Irises Flower." The one drawback, (okay, get ready, I'm a horrible person), was that every issue showcases the writing of two or three students enrolled in Ryerson's writing workshops. Of course this encourages a new generation of writers, but really the writing is sub par, especially compared to the professional writers included in the volume.

Poetry Magazine: A monthly poetry review. I also kept this one. It's affordable price (only $3.75 American and $5 Canadian, newstand) makes this a no-brainer. Half original poetry and half a review of poetry collections, this slim volume is great for reading on public transit. (I get mine out on the bus ride to the university). This is for those that want poetry, and only poetry, nothing fancy.

Of course, I also perused the December and January issues of The Sun. As always, the Readers Write section is my favourite. December's theme was Anger and January's is Narrow Escapes. Do you have any stories to share about either of these topics?

Well...it's time to get ready for class. I hope this list gives you some ideas about what to read in 2010.

For those of you in the Quebec City area who would like to look through these and other literary journals in both English and French, there's a good selection at Lecto Magazines on Quatre-Bourgeois near the 2nd Cup.