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

May 2023 | Issue #27

Open Casket, 2020 triptych

“Open Casket, 2020” by Kelly Vance

Mostly Sorry triptych

“Mostly Sorry” by Susan Wadds

Transmute triptych

“Transmute” by Laurie Easter

From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

From the Editors
Makers

April 2023 | Issue #26

Omnia Vanitas triptych — “Omnia Vanitas” by Donna Obeid

Remembering Adella triptych — “Remembering Adella” by Anna Citrino

The Shawl triptych — “The Shawl” by Elizabeth Bedell

Forever is composed of nows. —Emily Dickinson

From the Editors
Makers

March 2023 | Issue #25

Old Men Love Me triptych — “Old Men Love Me” by Caroline Simpson

How Simple Steps Become a Dance triptych — “How Simple Steps Become a Dance” by Sara Ries Dziekonski

Ars Antionettica triptych — “Ars Antionettica” by Elizabeth Sylvia

Time is how you spend your love. —Nick Laird

From the Editors
Makers

February 2023 | Issue #24

Translator's Note triptych — “Translator’s Note” by Kalani Padilla

Understories triptych — “Understories” by Richard Jackson

Sight-Paths triptych — “Sight-Paths” by Hoyt Rogers

That’s all we have, finally. The words, and they had better be the right ones. —Raymond Carver

From the Editors
Makers

January 2023 | Issue #23

Self Portrait triptych — “Self Portrait” by Terri Brown-Davidson

Edward Hopper, Hotel Room triptych — “Edward Hopper, Hotel Room” by Mark Katrinak

Odradek triptych — “Odradek” by DB Jonas

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself. —Virginia Woolf

From the Editors
Makers

December 2022 | Issue #22

Hinoki triptych — “Hinoki – ‘breath of life‘” by Martin McGowan

What You Should Know triptych — “What You Should Know (The Nile)” by John Bradley

the final chord triptych — “The final chord” by Andrew Oram

No one suspects the days to be gods. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

From the Editors
Makers

November 2022 | Issue #21

Iowa, 1955 triptych — “Iowa, 1955” by Benjamin Carson

Now Are You triptych — “Now Are You” by Rebekah Bloyd

When We Come to Class triptych — “When We Come to Class” by Carol Gremli

It is better to live in a state of impermanence than in one of finality.—Gaston Bachelard

From the Editors
Makers

October 2022 | Issue #20

An Origin Story triptych — “An Origin Story” by Anne Myles

Bloom triptych — “Bloom” by Elana Wolff

Sarah triptych — “Sarah” by Christina Rauh Fishburne

Beauty is a defiance of authority. — William Carlos Williams

From the Editors
Makers

September 2022 | Issue #19

triptych a small death — “A Small Death” by Heidi Kasa

triptych the cat in the window — “The Cat in the Window” by Rosemary Jones

triptych solder — “Solder” by Ted Mc Carthy

Time takes it all, whether you want it to or not. —Stephen King

From the Editors
Makers

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