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.

Waterwheel Review

Literature Without Labels

By

Who made it? Issue #32

Who made it?

January 2024

With “Forgive the Form” by Christina Rauh Fishburne

orange clay sculpture of serene oval face with a curved nose, half moon eyes, and a small mouth singing singing in an O
Sculpture from Margot Robinson’s Mystical Dreamer collection. 

“Until the Charm Fades” written and performed by Charlie Rauh in response to his sister’s piece.

With “Traveling through the Vanishing Point” by Christina Hutchins


“Another Travelin’ Song” by Bright Eyes.

With “There’s Something a Little Wrong with Everything” by CG Miller


“I Can See Now” by Dead Can Dance.

“I Am Stretched on Your Grave” by Scullion.

Acknowledgments

Streams of water background photo by BillionPhotos from Bigstock.

1961 Sears ad via Daily Mail.

Road through desert background image by mark-weaver at Pixabay.

Background photo of graveyard by Creaturart from Bigstock.

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Who made it? Issue #31

Who made it?

December 2023

With “Triptych for the Dead” by Jason Ranek

“Fratres” by Kronos Quartet.
A closed triptych (two panels) oil painting from 1504 where the earth is encapsulated in a globe with clouds covering the top, and the flat earth across the lower third; one panel depicts nature and the other has human created items like a firecracker
The Garden of Earthly Delights–Closed, 1503/1504, oil on panel, by Hieronymus Bosch.

With “Not Goodbye” by Abigail George

“Keep Me in Your Heart” by Warren Zevos.
Black and white abstract photo of a person with mid-length curly hair, wearing a suit, standing on the edge of choppy waters, bent over with forehead on a rectangle-shaped mirror reflecting the water behind him
“Untitled” by floede.

With “Moonsight” by Talley Kayser

“Under the Moon” by Brian Eno.
Two mountain walls with a starry night sky between them, and a person on the ground with lights shining on the mountains reflecting greens and blues, the ground covered in white snow
“Mountain Valley at Night” by Jonathan Pie.

Acknowledgments

Background Image of the Orion nebula, located in the constellation Orion by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Background image of red leaf trees by the road via Pixabay.

Image of Moon Phase for Dec. 1, 2023, by NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

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Who made it? Issue #30

Who made it?

November 2023 | Issue #30

With “Two Pictures” by J.R. Barner

Close-up of camera lens by Alexandre Boucher.

With “Fish-worm” by Sara Weiss

Photo of toddler kissing herself in a mirror rendered to look like a crayon drawing
Image by author. Photo editing by Cheryl Wilder.

With “her.story” by Annaliese Jakimides

Henry Butler Live @ LunÀtico.
Digital illustration of woman with her hands on one shoulder looking toward the ground and her skin blending into the roots and limbs of a tree.
Illustration of woman by KELLEPICS.
Abstract multimedia piece with vibrant orange, dark reds, and olive greens.
and when people see, mixed media, by Annaliese Jakimides

Acknowledgments

Digital illustration of the mythical element, Sylph, via FandomWiki.

Image of woman in shadow theatre via Puppetring.

Illustration of woman via Secureteen.

Background image of coral embryo via LifeScience.

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Who made it? Issue #29

Who made it?

October 2023 | Issue #29

With “Supplication” by Karly Vance

“Rain” (played on 100 tons of bells), performed by Joey Brink.
oil painting of an elder fisherwoman carrying a large woven basket on a seashore with a sailboat in the distance
Study of a Fisherwoman, 1884, oil on canvas board, 15 x 20 cm, by Stanhope Alexander Forbes.

With “Your Ancestors I Found Online” by Laurinda Lind

“Medicine Chant” by Anilah.
Prehistoric drawings in the Magura cave, Bulgaria
Prehistoric drawings in the Magura cave, Bulgaria.

With “Some Chance of Precipitation” by DB Jonas

“Upside Down & Inside Out” by OK Go.
ceiling fresco depicting the four continents known in the 1700s, personified by regal female figures--Europe, Africa, Asia, and AMerica. The center shows Apollo, the Greek god of the sun and protector of the arts. He is orbited by deities representing planets.
Deckenfresko im Treppenhaus der Würzburger Residenz, 1753-1753, fresco, 3200 x 1900 cm, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Acknowledgments

Background image of Skagit Bay via WikiCommons.

Illustration of DNA by geralt at Pixabay.

Time-lapse footage of the Earth as seen from the ISS by David Peterson.