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"Words that turn the page to flame."

The last word …

It’s time. With this 26th issue of The Smoking Poet, founded in 2006, I am closing shop on this wonderful literary endeavor. Yes. It is time. And I don’t doubt that is at least in part why it has taken me so long to get this final issue ready for publication. The other part—that’s the main reason why the doors are closing.

About two and a half years ago, I left “corporate America,” that world of long commutes, endless meetings and office politics to open my own business, Z Word, LLC, as a full-time writer and editor. I worked for some great institutions, true, but I longed to be on my own. At the same time, I made the move to my dream home: a 10-acre farm in southwest Michigan. It’s a life I’d been longing for since I was a girl, and at last, it’s mine.

What I quickly learned (unsurprised) about this new life is that the work never stops. Thankfully, I don’t want it to. The farm requires attention on a daily basis, including the flock of chickens I raise that keeps expanding. The writing and editing work occupies the full week, with the rare day off, but since it’s work I adore, and never two days the same, I’m happy to say that Friday brings no special bliss, while Monday morning is not without it.

The Smoking Poet was one part of this life that has become increasingly difficult to keep up. Through some interactions with writers and readers, I was surprised to learn that some out there think there’s a board of people running this magazine, at very least a panel of editors. There seemed to also be a perception that the magazine is funded by some, I don’t know, magical funding, the backing of a university or other large institution. In truth, it is funded by my own wallet. It always has been. And it’s not cheap.

TSP is just Joannie Stangeland, my poetry editor, bless her poetic heart, and me. Occasionally, I had college interns helping in the process, some truly wonderful young people with great ideas and work ethic. Tim Bazzett came on recently with his colorful book reviews. All did the work on a voluntary basis.

After struggling to find the time and allocate the funds when paychecks were no longer predictable, I finally realized I could do this no more. And there’s a third reason: after years of making time and financial sacrifices to showcase other writers and artists, I want to take the time to focus on my own writing and art. That, and this glorious farm.

And so, it’s time. Not an easy statement to make. I have been dawdling and dragging my heels and rethinking and debating. Finally, I ran out of arguments. Perhaps it’s someone else’s turn to take up the spotlight and shine it on the worthy work of others.

Thank you, ever so much, to Joannie for your years of hard and elegant work. Thank you, Tim. Thank you to all the many, many, many writers and artists who have graced these pages through 26 issues.

Thank you to those of you who have made this final issue so beautiful: feature artist Linda Lee Rzoska, authors Bruce Mills and Kristi Petersen Schoonover, and a line-up of spectacular writers and poets. Book reviews will be posted throughout the coming weeks, so do keep visiting our last issue for news … while it remains online.

Thank you to all you who read these good works. I will miss you.

 

With a good last word,

Zinta Aistars

Founder and Editor-in-Chief

 
 
 
 

More reviews posted every few days ...
 
Book Reviews
 
The Archaeology of Yearning by Bruce Mills
 
 
Begin Empty-Handed by Gail Martin
 
Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World by Shirley Hershey Showalter
 
In Both Hands by Joannie Stangeland
 
Exodus by Janet Ruth Heller
 
Hard Ground: Woods Cop Stories by Joseph Heywood
 
Killing a Cold One by Joseph Heywood
 
Last Hula by Elizabeth Kerlikowske
 
A Neon Tryst by Lina Ramona Vitkauskas
 
New and Selected Poems by Marjory Wentworth
 
Nietzsche's Angel Food Cake and Other Recipes for the Intellectually Famished by Rebecca Coffey
 
 
A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk by Loreen Niewenhuis
 
The Philosopher's Daughter by Lori Desrosiers
 
 
The Range of Your Amazing Nothing by Lina Ramona Vitkauskas
 
Square Feet by Lori A. May 
 
 
Unable to Fully California by Larry Sawyer
 
Until the Full Moon Has Its Say by Conrad Hilberry
 
Wedded to the Land: Stories from a simple life on an organic fruit farm by Joan Donaldson
 
Zero Tolerance by J.D. Knight
 
 
 
 

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"Guardian of Glenaraha" by Linda Rzoska

The Smoking Poet
Spring 2014, Issue #26
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

lraged.jpg
"Aged" by Linda Rzoska

ŠAll materials, print, artwork and photography on this site are copyrighted and not to be reprinted without written permission by The Smoking Poet.

ŠAll materials, print, artwork and photography on this site are copyrighted and not to be reprinted without written permission by The Smoking Poet.

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