Waterwheel Review

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From the Editors | Issue #22

December 2022

From the Editors

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

profile of three women walking on sandy beach in winter

Issue 22 is cypress, river water, a single chord of music. Martin McGowan pays tribute to a wooden sculpture in “Hinoki – ‘breath of life’”—a wallop on the gallery floor. In “What You Should Know (The Nile),” John Bradley gives us one startling image after another but we’re fondest of the quiet, silted vowels. Air reverberates like white flame in “The final chord” by Andrew Oram, another meditation on art. The days are gods because they’re made of details like these.

—Claire, Suzanne, Cheryl 

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We’re in our third season here at Waterwheel Review, and we couldn’t be happier. But we have big dreams. Right now we have two ways—in addition to being an author or maker—to be a part of our labor of love.

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From the Editors | Issue #21

November 2022

From the Editors

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

Issue 21 is in motion. From middle America to the ocean in Benjamin Carson’s unsparing portrait of escape, “Iowa, 1955.” From Munich to Spokane to California in Rebekah Bloyd’s mapped artifacts of a life, “Now Are You.” And from one end of the ballet studio to the other, and along the barre, year after year, in “When We Come to Class,” a love letter to dance by Carol Gremli. Finality, stasis; yes, we know it’s inevitable. But right now the air is brisk and we’re still moving.

—Claire, Suzanne, Cheryl

Join Our Growing Community

We’re in our third season here at Waterwheel Review, and we couldn’t be happier. But we have big dreams. Right now we have two ways—in addition to being an author or maker—to be a part of our labor of love.

1. Sign up for our newsletter.

You’ll know when each issue goes live and learn news about WWR and our authors.

*We promise never to sell or share your information. We hate spam as much as you do. For more info, read our full Privacy Policy.

2. Support literature without labels.

All expenses are out of pocket. Any help goes to our submissions manager and media. We would LOVE to one day pay authors, hold contests, speak at conferences… (slow down, deep breath). Thank you for supporting literature and art!

Support WWR

By

From the Editors | Issue #20

October 2022

From the Editors

Beauty is a defiance of authority. — William Carlos Williams

editors suzanne smith, cheryl wilder, and claire guyton pose in fun hats and accessories

We’re exploring beauty and loss in Issue 20. Anne Myles pushes hard in “An Origin Story” on the relationship between truth and beauty; when is truth forever ugly, she asks, in a story about loss. “Bloom” is a master class by Elana Wolff on how to weave beauty from a meditation on the details of ordinary life—“We’re all just passing through here,” she says, so let’s not grow weary of gazing at trees. The portrait of “Sarah” from Christina Rauh Fishburne is beautiful, too, and a paean to the loss of what might have been. Each of these three pieces makes loveliness from something broken. Beauty as defiance.

—Claire, Suzanne, Cheryl 

Join Our Growing Community

We’re in our third season here at Waterwheel Review, and we couldn’t be happier. But we have big dreams. Right now we have two ways—in addition to being an author or maker—to be a part of our labor of love.

1. Sign up for our newsletter.

You’ll know when each issue goes live and learn news about WWR and our authors.

*We promise never to sell or share your information. We hate spam as much as you do. For more info, read our full Privacy Policy.

2. Support literature without labels.

All expenses are out of pocket. Any help goes to our submissions manager and media. We would LOVE to one day pay authors, hold contests, speak at conferences… (slow down, deep breath). Thank you for supporting literature and art!

Support WWR

By

From the Editors | Issue #19

September 2022

From the Editors

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

three middlge-aged women taking a selfie

In Issue 19 a song goes to the moon, the night becomes the jealous watcher of a cat—“black skim of spine and sleek head”—and the phrase “scarred bell and brain” captures a lifetime of fractured relationship. Heidi Kasa, Rosemary Jones, and Ted Mc Carthy usher in this third season of Waterwheel Review with textured, lyric work that speaks to what time eventually takes—our ambition, our health; but reminds us, too, of what remains from one generation to the next, from one civilization to the next, to give us meaning and purpose. Reminds us? No. Celebrates. This issue’s guiding quotation—“Time takes it all,” says Stephen King—works like a sad song that lifts us from grief because it makes us sing. King’s words tell us to stay in this moment, this art. Be present. While you sink into that sentence and the next and the next … there is no time.

—Claire, Suzanne, Cheryl 

Join Our Growing Community

We’re in our third season here at Waterwheel Review, and we couldn’t be happier. But we have big dreams. Right now we have two ways—in addition to being an author or maker—to be a part of our labor of love.

1. Sign up for our newsletter.

You’ll know when each issue goes live and learn news about WWR and our authors.

*We promise never to sell or share your information. We hate spam as much as you do. For more info, read our full Privacy Policy.

2. Support literature without labels.

All expenses are out of pocket. Any help goes to our submissions manager and media. We would LOVE to one day pay authors, hold contests, speak at conferences… (slow down, deep breath). Thank you for supporting literature and art!

Support WWR