Thursday, May 20, 2010

TCE Releases Latest Issue, A Must Read!!

centrifugaleye.com

Read on to rub elbows with TCE's naked man and much more!

The Centrifugal Eye has just released its latest issue, “Renewal, Revision & Recycling.” If this conjures in you a humdrum farrago of eco-minded platitudes, guess again. Think creativity and broken boxes. There’s all sorts of weird improbable stuff--and somehow it is quintessentially edifying and nature-esteeming. Not even a smack of stale lecture.

An excerpt from Editor Eve Hanninen’s Intro demonstrates how broadly the theme plays:

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“Poets and writers are the master word-recyclers. They are faced with reusing a basic vocabulary and finding ways to be creative with diction. One group of words becomes a wholly different arrangement of sentences with the renewing efforts of each author. Every poet revises and reenvisions an image, a concept, or even the language itself, when fashioning the new from the existing. And this is what our May 2010 issue of The Centrifugal Eye is all about.”
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This outrageous outlier of spin has nothing to do with Mother Earth. But don’t worry. Hanninen is being a bit disingenuous. There’s plenty of Gaia-friendly poetry, art, and philosophy, including essays and a unique and fascinating interview with Robert Schiffman, a world-traveling masterful wordsmith, who is also a shamanic bird-whisperer and “Hindu- and Buddhist-inspired writer.” His breadth of literary learning is tremendous. His wise explanation of the value of poetry legendary.

In fact, it is one of the best explanations of the importance of poetry I have ever seen. If you feel the slightest bit guilty for taking time to write, check out the Schiffmann interview!

Also savor the luscious poems and peruse the essay titled, “The Fluid Looking-Glass” by yours truly, Owl Who Laughs! (there might be some poems by me in this issue too ... heh heh)

There’s one more reason you should read TCE. Hanninen is one of the very best editors I have ever seen. If you have seen movies like The Paper Chase and The Insider (one inside the Washington Post the other inside 60 minutes) you get an idea of the hum of energy and pulse of excitement among the staff of TCE (who are many). I told Hanninen she had emblazoned a professional standard that should be the norm, and she replied as follows:

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“You know I agree with you -- this type of editing experience should be the norm. Once it was. I grew up almost inside the industry (my mom also "grew up" inside the University of Washington Press and exposed me to its workings from early adolescence on), and also studied markets and editors, as well as took advanced editing courses, over the years. What I learned early and onward was invaluable and what the editors of the 70s and 80s practiced still impresses me for its caring professionalism. I emulate those decades. And I feel bothered by the editors of today who don't get involved with their "partners" -- their authors.”
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How’s that for coolness? You can’t beat it!

Now, there is one complaint I’ve heard about TCE: that its ethereal terrain is hard to navigate. The equivalent of a shoal to a sextant. I have some simple handy instructions:

(1) Go to the site. (centrifugaleye.com)

(2) Click on the naked man.

(3) Scroll down. Click on the naked man again!

(4) Let the screen load, then click the arrow to the left of the naked man’s elbow. (It’s like you’re rubbing elbows with him ...)

(5) Voila! You’re in!


Now head right on over the TCE and try it out. It’s fun. And a great read too. Hanninen and the vortex gang have done it again!


OWL

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