RAVEN CHRONICLES VOL 17, NO. 1-2, A SENSE OF PLACE
RAVEN CHRONICLES VOL 17, NO. 1-2, A SENSE OF PLACE
ISSN 1066-188. Vol. 19, 100 pages, 2012. Cover Photos by Maryna Ajaja and Ken Wagner.
What makes us develop feelings of connectedness with the places we inhabit or visit, whether they be fields or temples, bridges or gardens, small dwellings or freeway underpasses?
In our featured theme, A Sense of Place, writers and visual artists express what a sense of place means to them, and portray people and places with naturalism and candor. In trying to get a handle on how to frame the subject, we were fortunate to connect with (1) a woman with a passion for bridges: M. Anne Sweet, who was documenting the demolition of the South Park Bridge, and the people and cultures who relied upon it; (2) several women who shared a passion for a house in Seattle’s Central District, a historically African-American neighborhood, and the artist, James Washington, Jr., who lived there for decades: Carletta Carrington Wilson (who completed an artist-in residency at Washington house and “mined the space and place” of 1816 26th Avenue), and Anna Balint, Angela Gilliam, and Susan Noyes Platt (who documented in words, prayers and photographs, Wilson’s artistic vision and the spirits of the Washingtons); (3) a Zip Code: the 98118 Zip code was identified (unofficially) as the most diverse Zip code in America. It is in the southeast corner of Seattle, and the visual art project, “Represent 98118: a Self Portrait of a Culturally Rich Community,” brought together neighbors who shared their experiences, via photography, “working, playing, studying, and worshiping in the 98118 Zip code”: Willie Pugh and Maryna Ajaja are two of the neighbors who shared their experiences, through photos in this issue, in this busy crossroads of languages, races, religions and cultures; (4) a woman, Deborah McGee, with a passion for travel and hiking, and for documenting, in black & white, the evocative landscapes and man-made or organic objects she happens upon during her pilgrimages — to Glastonbury, England; Chianti, Tuscany, Italy; and Marble, Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains.
In the section Odes to Persons, Places & Things, writer D.V. Klenak memorializes the death, and its aftermath, of John T. Williams, native Nitinaht carver who was killed by Seattle police on August 30, 2010. And poet and teacher Judith Roche spins us a lovely story about the life and passing of friend and writer Robert Gordon. In Rants, Raves & Reviews, we feature twelve reviews — books and a play by Occupy Seattle. Most are of books or chapbooks written by Northwest writers, including Judith Skillman, David Lloyd Whited, Paul Hunter, Clemens Starck, Carolyne Wright, Wally Shoup (iconic experimental musician), Robert Sund, Molly Tenenbaum, and dan raphael. Michael Daley, in his review of Judith Skillman’s book of poems, The White Cypress, had this to say about her craft: “Judith Skillman’s ability to wring emotional value from mundane encounters in the concentration of an image, the brush stroke of a narrative, teaches me poetry’s ever widening sweep and mystical scope, echoing dogma by simultaneously escaping it into the eternal realm of wild beauty.” Amen to that.
Cover Photos by Maryna Ajaja and Ken Wagner.
Reviews of books authored by:
Michael Daley, David Lloyd Whited, Paul Hunter, David Lee, Clemens Starck, Carolyne Wright, Wally Shoup, Eds. Stacey Lynn Brown & Oliver de la Paz, Eds. Glenn Hughes & Tim McNulty, Molly Tenenbaum, Occupy Seattle, dan raphael.
The work of Artists/Photographers:
Maryna Ajaja, Kathleen Gunton, I.H. Kuniyuki, Deborah McGee, Susan Noyes Platt, Willie Pugh, Marilyn Stablein, M. Anne Sweet, Ken Wagner.
Poetry, Fiction, Essays, Nonfiction, Reviews by:
Eugenia Toledo, Carolyne Wright (translator), Judith Skillman, Mingben, Mary Fung & David Lunde (translators), Erika Teschke, Brenda Brito, Lorraine Healy, Penelope Moffet, Elizabeth Schultz, D.V. Klenak, Judith Roche, Bill Shively, Susan Noyes Platt, Anna Bálint, Meredith Kunsa, Carletta C. Wilson, Dr. Angela Gilliam, Gigi Marks, John Grey, Liana V. Andreasen, Elizabeth Smither, bevin, Anna E. Schmidt, Barbara Biles, Nancy Scott, Thomas Hubbard, Bette Lynch Husted, Timothy Roos, Matt Cygny, Barbara L. Thomas, Kimberly L. Becker, Jeff Crandall, Marjorie Power, Michael Daley, Edward Harkness, J.I. Kleinberg, Gary Thompson, Jane Blanchard, Michael Daley, Michael Hureaux, Tim McNulty, John W. Marshall, Judith Roche, Dennis Rea, Tiffany Midge, Susan Noyes Platt, Bill Shively, Larry Laurence.