By Julie Parent
It’s the month of May and that means that Clockhouse, the literary journal of Clockhouse Writer’s Conference and Goddard College, is about to go into production to be published on July 1. As Editor, I have the privilege of working alongside a smart and thoughtful staff of editors who sift through the almost 1,500 submissions received during our open call, discover new voices that resonate with the mission of the journal, and then gather those voices together, place in a particular order, and bind together to speak as one synergistic whole.
At this time of gathering for Clockhouse, I’ve become aware that the work of putting together this collection of stories, essays, plays and poems, is constructing the very threshold between the writer and the world—a point of beginning: for the writer to speak to whomever will listen, and for the reader to engage a new voice and perhaps discover a new community; and a point of culmination: the synergy of a concrete record of voices spoken, a thing that will live a life of its own through whomever it reaches.
As I type these words for this blog, one of our contributors, Michael Carroll (author of Little Reef and Other Stories), is reading his short story, I Know a Little, that will appear in this upcoming issue of Clockhouse. Michael reads at an event at the Court Tree Collective, an art gallery and cultural event space in Brooklyn, NY. His piece has reached an audience first through a live reading—the most literal (no pun intended) definition of the writer in the world—and at a place that devotes itself to the process of gathering.
Whether live or recorded on paper, these little thresholds—these beginnings and culminations—happen all the time. They are the necessary points at which writers and readers can differentiate what needs to be spoken and heard from the general hubbub of everyday life. Going to a reading is certainly a gathering, so is picking up a book or reading this blog. There are many open doors, many little thresholds we choose to cross every day.
Clockhouse, Volume Three – 2015 will go on sale July 1. Watch this space or visit www.clockhouse.net.
Julie Parent is the Editor of CLOCKHOUSE and a member of CWC’s Board of Stewards.
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Thanks all for the wonderful comments. You all do extraordinary work yourselves. Now, as for my book.. I better get crackin’!
Beautifully and thoughtfully said, Julie. Worth a read and a second read. Now I know the only thing you do more adeptly than guide a far-flung team of editors–write. I’m with Jane on the book request. More please. Looking forward to the new issue of Clockhouse.
Julie, I love what you say about the threshold of expression that exists between reader and writer. This space carries such energy, live and in print.
When is Julie’s book coming into the world? She writes with such directness, such clarity, such compassion and concision that I know her own words will have meaning for many of us. Currently I know her as an editor (of Clockhouse) and how extraordinary at that work she is.