An announcement and an apology

Defunct, Defunct, Defunct! Dead across the ocean! Dead in the land of Dylan Thomas! No more afterward! None!

My apologies to all contributors.

Well,

the book has been across the ocean for a couple of months. A few people in England and Wales have contributed pages. I'm anxiously anticipating having the book back here in Baltimore. (And posting pictures of the six new pages!)

More about Meagan

Meagan Noel Hart has been writing and crafting ever since she can remember. She recently earned her MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore and currently teaches English at Carroll Community College. Her work has appeared in Welter and her own handmade creation, A Short Stack of Silly Shorts for the Morally Sidetracked (link to: http://www.atomicbooks.com/index.php/zines-magazines/short-stack-silly-shorts-morally-sidetracked.html) can be found at Atomic Books. You can read a review here: http://weloveyouso.com/2010/02/a-short-stack-of-silly-shorts-for-the-morally-sidetracked/

Atomic Books: A Short Stack Of Silly Shorts For The Morally Sidetracked : Meagan N. Hart
www.atomicbooks.com
A short collection of silly stories.

Meagan Hart's spread

Meagan is another fellow alum of the University of Baltimore. I was in the class where she crafted the book now on sale at Atomic Books. I was, I'll say it, jealous of her imagination! I thought it was brilliant. I'm a big fan of her illustrations and am happy to have her join the project.

I like that the girl's back is to the viewer. Her hands are also hidden from view. The dog is looking up at the face we cannot see. These omissions create a sense of sadness and hesitation. The small portrait leans towards the reader as they open the page. This, coupled with the height of the helix on the opposite page, intensifies the sense of distance we feel.

Meredith's Page One and Two

I love the feeling of release in these pages. Her images all work together: a dancing dunce in danger of losing her top, a dark sky and swirling mass, old sheet music demanding a dance and a string of stars. Her words add to the feeling of dangerous abandonment,"Quiet your humming thoughts. The climb begins. Flicker to the fall. Let go."

I love the texture of the page, too, and the way her old source material ties into the previous collage.

Meredith Purvis's dangerous whimsy.

Meredith Purvis, mild-mannered communications editor by
day, kicks up her heels and dances down the night. She
is about to receive her MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts
from the University of Baltimore. Her poetry has been
published in Journey Student Literary Magazine, Welter,
the Little Patuxent Review, and is forthcoming in The Light Ekphrastic. Visit her blog at meredithpurvis.com.

Details of Jenny's Pages

Chris Toll came up with the wonderful idea of passing an element of his college to the next collaborator. The volcano is his element. It was exciting for me to see this new kind of collaboration.

Jenny's pages are astounding. One must open flaps and unwind bindings to get at the story. The volcano is hidden until you undo the binding that folds out a page. What a lovely surprise of color and ingenuity.

Her line is: "your sentence is the same no matter how I say it."