Dear Readers,
We are publishing this at last gasp of poetry month, which always comes at the most exhausting time (for me anyway)! Did anyone take into account when choosing a poetry month that April is peak burnout time for professors and teachers (and that so many of us writers make our living teaching)?
Despite the busyness, I managed to force my hermit-self to attend some fabulous events this month, and I’m very glad that I did. Years ago, Indianapolis Review happened to be the first journal to publish a poem by Samantha Fain, and she invited me to read at the launch of her latest publication, Are You There, a full length book of poems with Bad Betty Press. I loved getting to meet her in person, along with fellow readers, Téa A. Franco and another Indianapolis Review contributor, Mary Ardery.
I was incredibly proud of Taylor Thomas, a former creative writing student of mine at Ivy Tech, when she graduated from Notre Dame’s MFA program. I was so excited to go to the MFA reading and hear her and the other graduating students read from their works. Another excitement is that I finally got to meet Notre Dame creative writing professor and one of my favorite poets of all-time, Joyelle McSweeney, in person, who I interviewed a couple years ago.
Lastly, I made sure to attend this month’s Nightjar reading series at Tube Factory. I did not want to miss Chantel Massey’s reading! If you haven’t gone to this reading series yet, you should definitely check it out. Another bonus about that is getting to see the current exhibits at the Tube, which are all free. There are incredible exhibits by Rachel Leah Cohn and Jessica Dunn right now.
Attending these events and participating in community is really important, and I know I’m not great at doing that. The wars, the genocide, and the everyday terrors all around us are confounding, depressing, awful, and make me want to isolate. I hate seeing them divide the lit community as well. I recently had a very fascinating conversation with Rosalie Moffett, our featured poet this month, which included discussion of political poetry and the writer’s responsibility. I hope you check it out.
Thanks everyone, for contributing, for reading, and for keeping Indianapolis Review alive. I truly can’t believe how it’s evolved and grown, and I am always amazed at how many people come up to me (at the events I mentioned, for example!) and are actual fans of the journal. I am always blown away that people appreciate what started out as a fever dream, created by me and a few friends, with no money, etc. etc.
Take care,
Natalie Solmer
Editor In Chief
The Indianapolis Review
Indianapolis, Indiana
April, 2024
