Dear Readers,
WELCOME to a very special double issue of The Indianapolis Review! When I first had the idea to create an issue that is made up entirely of Indianapolis based writers and artists, I was excited and apprehensive at the same time. I was excited because it represents an important part of my original vision, which is bringing attention to the wide range of talented folks in this often overlooked part of the country, and apprehensive because of the enormous amount of work this would require, as well as the acknowledgement that there is no way that I can show an exact portrait of Indianapolis writers and artists. What we’ve come up with is only a small slice of the Indianapolis area, and it is not a perfect representation, of course.
However, I have to say that this is an impressive ‘slice’ of Indy! We are featuring 41 poets and 10 artists in this issue, which is double our usual size. Some of the writers and artists in this issue have been featured in The Indianapolis Review previously, but many we have never published before. We are proud to represent a wide range of ages, ethinicities, neighborhoods and affiliations with different universities, as well as no affiliation with any university, here by our writers and artists. This variation also means we are including a wide range of aesthetics, and hopefully you will be (pleasantly) surprised and intrigued by the juxtapositions that are created here. We are excited to have two former Indiana Poet Laureates in this issue, as well as the current Youth Poet Laureate of Indianapolis. I also invited my amazing staff members to submit work for this issue, and you will find pieces by Ashley Mack-Jackson, Brianna Pike, and Rachel Sahaidachny here. You will find an eclectic mix of writing styles, as well as very different styles of art contained in this issue, which has always been a part of my mission. to showcase.
This publication is a special way to celebrate the fact that The Indianapolis Review has been around for 2 years now, and this is our 10th issue! If all goes well, I hope we can repeat this endeavor in another 2 years. In the meantime, we are planning a reading to feature the outstanding talent that we have in this issue. We hope that the event will be sometime in January; watch out for an announcement closer to that time on our social media–Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
For my ‘Letter From The Editor’ in this Indianapolis edition, I imagined that I would simply create a photo essay of My Indianapolis, and leave you with photos of the places that make up my everyday existence on the Westside of the city. I am still giving you the photo essay, though it is much smaller in scope than I originally imagined–I quickly realized that if I featured all the important places on the Westside for me, that would be far too many photos!
I hope my ordinary photos, created with my sub-par camera phone, are yet another slice of Indy that many readers may be unfamiliar with. I want to note that we are looking to publish more photo essays in the future, and if you are interested, please email us for more details. In the forthcoming issues, we plan to feature photo essays from some of our staff. Our editorial team makes up an interesting representation of the city: The Eastside (Community Heights, Irvington, Fountain Square, and Lawrence), The Westside (Speedway), and The South Side (almost Greenwood). As you can see, we definitely have a lot of love for the Eastside of the city, but I am showcasing my little photo narrative of an afternoon/evening in my Speedway neighborhood here. I hope you enjoy these, and also the gorgeous work in this issue by the inhabitants of our city. Thanks for reading and supporting us for these 2 years!
Sincerely,
Natalie Solmer Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Indianapolis Review Indianapolis, October 2019
