Dear Readers and Contributors,
It’s our 25th issue! That’s 600-something contributors-poets and artists that we have published in the last six years! It feels surreal. As with every issue, I have to thank my loyal staff–my OG members and my newbies–and of course our readers and contributors!
Speaking of newbies, my friend and accomplished artist Nasreen Khan has joined our staff as art editor. She’s written up a lovely intro on the next page and a feature on two Indiana photographers about how their work changed since moving away from Indiana and then returning.
This so-called ‘boomerang effect’ of moving away from Indiana, only to be drawn back again, is something that I am familiar with as well. I could not wait to get out of Indiana when I was young. When I was 18, I moved to South Carolina and earned my degree at Clemson University. To my surprise, even though I loved many things about South Carolina, I moved back to Indiana a couple years after graduating in order to be closer to family and friends. I was homesick, and my perspective on the place had completely changed.
A writer who knows about this all too well is Anderson, Indiana native Douglas Manuel, although I do not know if he will ever move back to Indiana, he writes frequently writes about the place and people in it. He is our featured poet for this issue, and I specifically asked him about his perspective on the Midwest since he now lives in California. I hope you will enjoy my interview with him about his phenomenal new book, Trouble Funk!
There are some projects for Indianapolis Review that I mentioned in my last editor’s letter and that are still in the works. This has been a wild year of a lot of changes–losses, transitions, and new adventures. I still hope to stay on (get back on?) track and accomplish some of my bigger dreams for Indianapolis Review by the end of the year!
Thanks for reading, and happy summer (what’s left of it!)
Natalie Solmer
Founder & Editor In Chief
The Indianapolis Review
Indianapolis, August 2023
Next Page (Introductory statement by art editor Nasreen Khan)