A beautiful, spirited monologue, and a string of fabulous poetry – NorthWord - A Literary Journal of Canada’s North launched its 25th issue virtually on April 23, 2022 with a house full of literary lovers. The theme for this issue is Attachment, guest edited by Hope Moffatt, Early Childhood Consultant. The lovely cover art is by Sherry Duncan, local artist.
Hope shared the editing process.
“I got all the submissions at once from Jane (managing editor) and read them several times before starting to select, thrilled that we had about 40 submissions to choose from. When I got to the selection stage, I didn’t discard any, but rather started two lists, a ‘for sure’ and a ‘maybe’ column. I chose submissions that particularly appealed to me as well as those that I thought would provide a variety of responses to the theme Attachment. I remember being happy when Jane said there was space for a few more poems, so I could add more from the ‘maybe’ list.”
Guest speakers from the community also spoke about local literary initiatives.
Dawn Booth, President, Northern Canada Collective Society for Writers, publishers of NorthWord said “it was wonderful to hear from the published artists and have our guest speakers talk about other local literary arts programming. Poetry and art is strong here in Fort McMurray. We live and breathe with creativity, each day. Another published edition of NorthWord magazine is the finest proof.”
“We would also like to thank our community sponsors because without them, putting this issue together would not be possible. Our Society is a small group of dedicated volunteers and the financial support to publish our magazine comes from people who, like us, believe in the importance of literary arts,” Dawn added.
“Space” is the theme for our next issue. Alisa Caswell, NorthWord’s Member-at-L
arge, and President, Writer’s Guild of Fort McMurray is our guest editor. She reflects on choosing the theme.
“I sat down a couple of months ago to list some potential themes. Right outside my window was our expansive northern winter sky. The entire universe somehow seems reachable on our clear, cold nights. Over the past couple of years, I have become obsessed with the physical layout of our house – figuring out how our family could spread out efficiently to work and study in our home! Finally – the time and place we need to create. When the world is so dynamic, how do we slow down and tap into our imaginations? I can't wait to read everyone’s submissions for our
next issue, Space.”
Deadline for the next issue is May 30, 2022. Midnight. Short stories or excerpts from current projects, fiction, or non-fiction (3000 words maximum), verse of no more than 50 lines, along with anything original and inventive can be submitted to the editors at northword@hushmail.com.
Free copies of NorthWord are available at Mitchell’s Café, Keyano College, Prestige Jewellers, Suncor Energy Centre for the Performing Arts at Holy Trinity High School, the Redpoll Centre, Urban Market and Avenue Coffee.