A Brief History of Mail by Lisa Vihos

Pebblebrook Press, an imprint of Stoneboat, announces the publication of its first chapbook: A Brief History of Mail by our very own Lisa Vihos. The chapbook features 19 poems that Lisa identifies as "reader favorites," and poets Philip Dacey, Marilyn Taylor, and Ned Balbo have all given it the thumbs up. (For what it's worth, Rob, Jim, and Signe have also given it the thumbs up.)

Greek Chicken Rolls and Carrot Cake Make the World Right

Well, it wouldn't be an editorial meeting anymore if we did not have a delicious meal, thanks to our resident chef, graphic designer, and staff photographer, Jim Giese. To watch Jim flip a frying pan full of onions and zucchini rounds is to watch a master at work. Along with the sauteed zucchini, Jim prepared these amazing buttery, savory, puff pastry "logs" filled with a thoroughly yummy chicken/spinach mixture. I brought the salad. (That is my department. I like to make and eat salad more than just about anything. Well, there might be a couple things I like more. They shall remain nameless.) Rob brought wine. Signe brought...herself. That is always more than enough.

The Calm Before the Storm

[in which she invokes one of the most tired clichés ever]

For now, things are relatively calm in Stoneboat land. We've tamed the unruly email inbox. We've charted the submissions. Hell, we've even read the submissions! For the past few weeks, we have been sitting on our respective couches sipping wine (or beer if you're Rob and Jim, and maybe if you're Lisa; to be honest, I have no idea what my co-editors drink at home), exchanging emails, and counting down the days until August 6th.

The Importance of Lunch

What with all the activity of summer, we editors have not had a chance to hang out together very much. Signe and I decided to do something really radical today and take a break for lunch. I look forward to talking about the upcoming issue with her. We are coming up on our deadline for submisssions, and we have A LOT of them to read yet. This is the bane and beauty of editing a small journal: looking at all the material that arrives from points unknown and making some kind of decision. Does this touch me? Does this grab me? Does this move me? Now I have a clearer sense about what editors go through when they look at my work. It does give one pause. We are all trying to express ourselves, our visions. Let's do it as clearly, succinctly, and universally as we can. But first, let's eat lunch.

The Importance of First Lines

Compare:

Gregor Samsa was a cockroach when he woke up one morning.
vs.

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
Same idea, but a world of difference. Read them out loud. (Go ahead -- nobody's listening.) Can you feel it? Can you hear it? The first sentence is awkward on the tongue. It lacks rhythm. It sounds funny. It's not very detailed. There's less intrigue. The first sentence has the ring of an amateur.

"Orestes" by Sandra Kleven

This is a [somewhat shaky] video of Sandra Kleven reading a poem out of Stoneboat, live from Alaska via Skype, during the April 21st reading. If you like what you hear, please consider purchasing the issue -- it's packed full of amazing poetry, prose, and artwork.

That special feeling....

Okay, so there is this feeling you get when you stress and obsess about something, and then you do it--this thing you have been preparing for and worrying about--and then, before you can blink an eye or say "Ishkabibble," suddenly, the thing you have been working on is all done, completed, basta, enough.