Dear Readers, Poets, Artists,
I am typing this while wrapped in a fleece blanket, sitting next to my little space heater. When I was a girl growing up in South Bend, Indiana, I swore I would leave this frigid and conservative state and never come back. But after earning my degree in a warm, Southern location and lingering there for a few years, I had a serious longing to move back and be near friends and family. I decided that Indianapolis was the ideal metropolis for me. Fourteen years later, I am fiercely in love with this place and yet try not to be too miserable when facing the winters every year.
One thing I have no trouble celebrating is the daily lengthening of light and the end to this particularly chaotic and freezing January. Publishing our Winter Issue on the last day of January in the midst of a particularly poetic full moon (blood, blue, super), is a perfect way to celebrate the coming warmth.
It not only warms me, but still surprises me, seeing the generousness of all of the poets and artists that have trusted us and continue to trust us with their work. Last January, if you would have told me that I would be editing an online journal, I would have told you that you were crazy! I would have thought that I just didn’t have enough time or ambition to do it.
Something shifted in me, and now, here we are: three issues in! All I can say is how grateful I am to all the writers and artists for sending us their work. It just keeps getting better. I’m so excited to share all of these gems with you, dear readers. I also urge you to check out the interview we did with Indianapolis poet, Allyson Horton. She shares her warmth and wisdom with us and discusses her forthcoming book, Quick Fire.
I hope you enjoy the gorgeous artwork, as well as the words you find here. Happy Winter!
-Natalie Solmer
Editor In Chief
The Indianapolis Review