Literature Without Labels
Global communications, conceptual illustration background image by SERGII IAREMENKO / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY.
Rock formation background image via Pikist.
Vintage photo of child and pitbull via adoptapet.com.
Photo of fireworks by Twdragon via Wikicommons.
Background of chain link fence by Free-Photos at Pixabay.
Photo of en pointe foot x-ray from the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World at Brown University.
Photo of bus and motorcycle by Antonella Vilardo at Unsplash.
Background photo of Balatero port from above by Jules Bss at Unsplash.
None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives. — Jane Austen
Dis-ease, one of us said—Issue 11 is thick with it. Dis-ease through disruption—that’s the source of the energy running through this work. Sherre Vernon in “City Cancels 4th of July” and Brooke Middlebrook in “Philosophy of the Dance” disrupt their own narratives with borrowed text, layering in more meaning with see-sawing voice and tone. So much of the power of Laine Harrington’s “Philippines, 1973” comes from jarring images and word choices that shove attention from one line to another. Subject, form, and diction are so very different, yet all three pieces feel uneasy and out-of-focus, with protagonists always on the edge of one kind of danger or another. Having spent a year and a half, now, more-or-less sheltering in place… our psyches are ready for a little less stillness.
—Claire, Suzanne, Cheryl
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For a while I thought Maine might avoid the Delta-variant-driven spike in Covid cases. These past couple of weeks I’ve accepted that last year’s postponed Thanksgiving visit from my sister and her husband will be postponed once again. In a fit of disappointment over this, I asked my husband how many introverts like us might morph into shut-ins because of this pandemic. That term—“shut-in”—isn’t one I’ve heard or used much. It came to mind, I’m sure, because of Erica Kent’s piece we published this past March. And I’m so pleased it did, because it led me away from my frustration and brought me back to her good work.
I asked Erica about her inspiration for the piece:
“The Shut-In” is based on a true story. My parents moved into the shut-in’s home “sight unseen” in the summer of ’68, about nine months before I was born. As my dad was pretty acerbic, it proved easy to imagine his comments as he and my mom went from room to room unearthing treasures of their starter home. The story became part of our family folklore, or what was our family until my parents got divorced in 1983. A couple of years ago, when I set about writing the piece, I mined my mother for details. I wanted to call my dad too, but as he had recently died, I made do with what I envisioned he would’ve remembered. I tried to stay faithful to my parent’s personal history, as well as the character of the shut-in. In a few places I gave myself creative license, and, as such, technically the piece is fiction. My favorite part, the ball of hair, is true. It was the starting point.
When Covid hit and the country went into lockdown, the implications of the piece expanded. A revised story might very well include playing with time, creating more of a back and forth examination of what it means to be tucked away from daily life. But for now, after many drafts, I am satisfied with the scope of this version.
As usual, our search for companion pieces led us to images and articles we didn’t end up using that have nevertheless stayed with us. I love this photo-treatment of the anxiety behind agoraphobia, for example. And Cheryl suggested this video of Joan Cusack as Sheila, who suffers from agoraphobia, in the television series Shameless. I haven’t watched a single episode (yes, Cheryl, I will get to it) but was moved to tears by this video and still think about a couple of the scenes.
Thank you again, Erica, for your fantastic work, and for the timely reminder that art is refuge.
–Claire Guyton