Dear Readers,

When we launched Waterwheel Review, we were keen to explain why we were so moved and motivated by the image of the waterwheel. Water stands for language, an ever flowing, renewable source; the waterwheel, an engine of labor, circles through, lifting words and then dropping them back into the running stream. Our magazine is a mill, we said, where the waterwheel powers writing and publishing. “We want—and need—to make things.”

For a couple of years, now, we have known that we can’t make enough of our own things while we give so much energy to the work of others. We have had to cut substantially the time and attention devoted to our own writing, and mostly we have been glad to do it, determined to find a way to repay our own work in the end. We never did find that way.

If we could quit our jobs and earn that income publishing this magazine, we would take that deal in an instant. But that’s not the world we live in. For many, many months we have known this, but we couldn’t accept it until now. And thank goodness for that.

Every single issue of this magazine has been a wonder that transported and enchanted us. We can’t say we gloried in every moment. We read or edited or built the site at times while sick, exhausted, grieving—that’s the nature of any publication. But we damn well gloried in every word, every paired image and sound.

Four years and thirty-six issues: What an honor to publish our contributors. What a privilege to offer stunning work to our readers. We must use the word pleasure, too, always rolled out to accompany “honor and privilege,” but pleasure isn’t strong enough, nor is gratitude nor joy nor blessing. For once we find ourselves at a loss for words to express precisely what it has meant to keep this waterwheel turning.

Maybe this will do it: How many times does anyone ever fully achieve the glittering, half-glimpsed vision floating above; that winking, flirting piece of art we ache to manifest? For the three of us, precisely this once.

We will keep making things and so will you. We started this magazine with the image of the waterwheel and a Jean Rhys quote, and we will end in the same way, as we thank you for reading and submitting, and wish you and yours all the very best:

Listen to me. All of writing is a huge lake. There are great rivers that feed the lake, like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. And there are mere trickles, like Jean Rhys. All that matters is feeding the lake. I don’t matter. The lake matters. You must keep feeding the lake.

—Claire, Suzanne, Cheryl

September 1, 2024: Waterwheel Review will stay online for the foreseeable future. It remains as it looked for the final June 2024 issue.

Archives

Archives

Original homepage triptych presentation of each publication excerpt with its companion pieces, preserved below. Click on publication title to read, image to view larger version (opens in new browser window), Editor’s Note to learn about the issue, and Makers to view companion pieces.

April/May 2024 | Issue #35

The Crayfish Ferris Wheel triptych — “The Crayfish Ferris Wheel” by Brian C. Billings

Xeroseres: A Lesson triptych — “Xeroseres: A Lesson” by Faith Allington

The Mood Begins to Shift triptych — “The Mood Begins to Shift” by Gerald Yelle

It was as if, through that one sentence, she had wandered out of the yard of her usual language and found herself in a different, mysterious, elegant part of town. —Barbara Feinberg

From the Editors
Makers

March 2024 | Issue #34

How to Embellish an Upper Case V and Not Ruin It triptych — “How to Embellish an Upper Case V and Not Ruin It” by Victoria Melekian

Beginning with a Line from Roethke triptych — “Beginning with a Line from Roethke” by Kathleen McGookey

And the Point Is to Live Everything triptich — “And the Point Is to Live Everything” by Claire Scott

The world spins. We stumble on. It is enough. — Colum McCann

From the Editors
Makers

February 2024 | Issue #33

Songs triptych — “Songs” by Malcolm Glass

As part of the latest interdisciplinary proposal triptych — “[As part of the latest interdisciplinary proposal]” by Brendan Todt

Sometimes I Do Not Know If I Should Tell My Children What I Have Seen triptych — “Sometimes I Do Not Know If I Should Tell My Children What I Have Seen” by Caroline Canter Triscik

Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are. —Gretel Ehrlich

From the Editors
Makers

January 2024 | Issue #32

Forgive the Form triptych — “Forgive the Form” by Christina Rauh Fishburne

Traveling through the Vanishing Point triptych — “Traveling through the Vanishing Point” by Christina Hutchins

There's something a little wrong with everything triptych — “There’s Something a Little Wrong with Everything” by CG Miller

To begin, begin. — William Wordsworth

From the Editors
Makers

December 2023 | Issue #31

Triptych for the Dead triptych — “Triptych for the Dead” by Jason Ranek

Not Goodbye triptych — “Not Goodbye” by Abigail George

Moonsight triptych — “Moonsight” by Talley Kayser

Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant. —Joan Didion

From the Editors
Makers

November 2023 | Issue #30

Two Pictures triptych — “Two Pictures” by J.R. Barner

Fish-worm triptych — “Fish-worm” by Sara Weiss

her.story triptych — “her.story” by Annaliese Jakimides

The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. —Marcel Proust

From the Editors
Makers

October 2023 | Issue #29

Supplication triptych — “Supplication” by Karly Vance

Your Ancestors I Found Online triptych — “Your Ancestors I Found Online” by Laurinda Lind

Some Chance of Precipitation triptych — “Some Chance of Precipitation” by DB Jonas

All the scars on my body, all the bumps and bruises, all the muscles – that is a story of everything I have done. —Rose Namajunas

From the Editors
Makers

September 2023 | Issue #28

My Bad triptych — “My Bad” by Deborah Adams

The Conqueror triptych — “The Conqueror” by Michael Waterson

Please Advise triptych — “Please Advise” by Christine Aucoin

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell the truth. —Oscar Wilde

From the Editors
Makers

Find each season (Sept. – May) archived on its page. Click the links below to view previous seasons, beginning with the most recent.

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