Thursday, July 24, 2014

Volume 4, Issue 3 of WomenArts Quarterly

WAQJ V4, I3
Hello Everyone!

We are proud to announce the release of Volume 4, Issue 2, which includes some fantastic photographs from visual artist Hannah Whitaker, an interview with fiction writer Holly Goddard Jones, and a thought-provoking essay on family crises by Natalie Harris, and much, much more. Pick up a copy here or from our distributor at stores around the country. You'll be glad you did!


Lindsay Shadwell
Managing Editor
WomenArts Quarterly Journal
www.vivacepress.com/waq

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

WomenArts Quarterly Journal Volume 4, Issue 2 Out Now!

WAQJ V4, I2
Hello everyone!

We're excited to announce the release of WomenArts Quarterly Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, which features a fantastic interview between poets Susana H. Case and Laura Madeline Wiseman. We've also got some really engaging visual art in this issue: paintings by Melissa Wilkinson that subvert the elitism often associated with the old masters. In the fiction department, we have "Stolen Things" by Abbigail N. Rosewood--a haunting story that questions whether it's ever possible to leave your past behind you. All of this and many other fascinating pieces in our newest issue, available for purchase online and in a bookstore near you. Enjoy!











Lindsay Shadwell
Managing Editor
WomenArts Quarterly Journal
www.vivacepress.com/waq

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

WomenArts Quarterly Journal Review by NewPages.com

We received a fantastic review of  Volume 4, Issue 1 by www.NewPages.com today! Thank you, NewPages! Check out what they're saying about us:



Volume 4 Issue 1
2014
Quarterly
Review by Melanie Tague

WomenArts Quarterly Journal is a peer-reviewed journal published at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and is part of the Women in the Arts organization. It publishes a collection of poetry, interviews, and reviews, all created by women, in virtually any field of art.

This issue features an informative and interesting interview with the musician Anne King whose name you may recognize from Whose Line Is It Anyway? where she worked as one of the musicians on the show. King has also worked on shows such as American Idol and The Voice and currently is on tour with Rod Stewart. This interview explores how King finds success through taking every opportunity that is thrown her way and by building and being an active member in the artistic community. There is something in this article that any artist could learn from.

“How To Desire” by Wandajune Bishop-Towle is a poem that is strongly constructed and works on many levels to help the reader discover “how to desire” as well as create desire within the reader. The poem begins, “Be as a pencil, shaved raw, / a sieve, with openings the size of words.” Bishop-Towle creates desire not only with her words but also with line breaks—when the first line ends with the word “raw” it leaves the reader hanging in a vulnerable state wondering where to go next. The poem is constructed in an instructional manner and ends, “Lean. Lean further. Fall. Listen / the way a shutter’s hinge / listens for winter’s mountains.”

Another intriguing poem in this issue is Charlene Logan Burnett’s “Sleepwalking at Age Seven.” Written in a dream like tone, it fuses the real world with surrealist moments in order to create a dream-like state that the narrator is experiencing:

Lily of the valley grows in the woods. I smell the bell-shaped flowers. I was told not to eat the red berries, and I don’t, but I am so groggy, the floor beneath me turns to swamp.
I am drowning. Tree stumps float past. Tadpoles swim in my ears.

Burnett uses sleepwalking as a way for the young narrator to rationalize what they have witnessed and ends, “Someone reaches down and grabs me. A woman with red hair . . . The woman is my father. I am sure of it. As we float down the hall, I listen to the rustle of his dress. His green heels are flocked in moss.”

Caitlin K. Clark’s fiction piece “Variations on a Dying Swan” is an impactful story told in the third person that, in many ways, works to do what the journal as a whole aims for: showcases the work of women creators in as many ways as possible and tells the story about the stage of life and death. This story helps to bridge the gap between the stage of a ballerina and the page of a writer. On the surface, it is about a ballerina, who has fallen ill and faces death, living and never dancing again. The story begins describing how she used the pain of childhood ailments to inspire her Swan so that it would, “look weak, although dance required strength.” To cope, the ballerina imagines what it will be like to bring this part of her life to the stage and how the Swan will adapt. She envisions audiences finding her new swan even more beautiful than the last and when asked she will say, “My illness. I learned from my illness.” As the ballerina prepares to walk on to the stage of death as a testament to how passionate her dancing was, she feels “butterflies” and she tells the butterflies, “Shhh, there is nothing to fear. You have already done this, four thousand times before.”

This issue has lots more to check out including artwork from Monica Van den Dool as well as reviews and other works of poetry and fiction. So, head over toWomenArts Quarterly Journal’s website and pick up a copy of this issue today!

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Dr. Kathleen Butterly Nigro on Women in the Arts at the U

Dr. Kathleen Butterly Nigro
Hello everyone!

A few weeks back, we had the fascinating Dr. Kathleen Butterly Nigro on the program to discuss her research in gender studies and teaching philosophy. We even got Kathleen's opinion on the notorious Miley Cyrus. So check out the interview here and learn why Kathleen says we have to investigate the past to understand the present.








Lindsay Shadwell
Managing Editor
WomenArts Quarterly Journal
www.vivacepress.com/waq

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

WomenArts Quarterly Journal Volume 4, Issue 1 Out Now!




Cameo by Monica Van den Dool



Hello all!

We are excited to announce the release of Volume 4, Issue 1 of WomenArts Quarterly Journal! This is our 13th issue of the journal and we're very happy to still be standing! This issue contains a a fabulous story by Caitlin K. Clark (one of my favorites of recent history), as well as beautiful and very slightly macabre ceramics by Monica Van den Dool, and of course, lots of thought-proving poetry, among other great pieces (another story, a review, and an interview). I highly recommend checking out this issue; there's lots of great stuff just waiting for you to read it! Pick up your copy here.


Lindsay Shadwell
Managing Editor
WomenArts Quarterly Journal
www.vivacepress.com/waq

Monday, November 11, 2013

Jennifer Tappenden on Women in the Arts at the U

Jennifer Tappenden
Photo by August Jennewein
Last week on Women in the Arts at the U, poet extraordinaire and Architrave Press founder, Jennifer Tappenden, was back to tell us what her life's been like since becoming a Riverfront Times Mastermind! She also shared with us her big ideas for making St. Louis a world-class literary hub and, of course, read some of her fabulous poetry. Check out the interview here!










Lindsay Shadwell
Managing Editor
WomenArts Quarterly Journal
www.vivacepress.com/waq

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Mandy Mincher on Women in the Arts at the U

Mandy Mincher
This week on Women in the Arts at the U, our guest, the great fiction writer Mandy Mincher, spoke about writing her novel about a 19th century Parisian violinist, as well as what she learned from editing WomenArts Quarterly Journal and how she balances her work and writing life. Check it out here.















Lindsay Shadwell
Managing Editor
WomenArts Quarterly Journal
www.vivacepress.com/waq