2012 Holiday Wishes from TW
And I say to my fingers, type me a pretty song.
And I say to my heart: rave on."
— Mary Oliver
It's the season of giving and good cheer and golden lights. But in recent days, we’ve also felt great sorrow, mourning the events at a Connecticut elementary school. Like so many, we hold our children close, bury our noses in their hair. Life’s alternating mix of love and grief can bring us to our knees.
And yet, we TW editors believe that a passionate engagement with the world—and an acknowledgment of all we can’t control—fuels the best writing and art. It’s why we started Talking Writing. It’s why creating this magazine together is such a joy.
We have many hopes for next year: a solid budget, a new website design, a TW print anthology, a chance to meet many of you at the AWP conference in Boston this March.
We have big thanks to offer as well: to our wonderful writers and artists; to our ever-inspirational staff; to our loyal subscribers; to everyone who has donated time, creative work, and funds to Talking Writing in 2012.
Please join us now in continuing to secure TW's future. Help us rave on. For your end-of-year charitable donations, make a contribution in any amount—and know that your gift matters.
We have other wishes, far less tangible but equally real:
- May we greet all challenges with courage and love.
- May we communicate the joy of creating to every person we meet.
- May we live truly, always, and never walk in fear.
Rave on, all you artists and writers and readers and dreamers.
Keep typing your songs. Keep writing, even when it takes you to unknown worlds. We are all the better for it.
Here's to a creative and bountiful 2013! — Martha Nichols and Elizabeth Langosy
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.”— Mary Oliver
Poetry excerpts: The lines above the leaf photo are from "Messenger" and the opening lines are from "A Pretty Song" in Thirst: Poems by Mary Oliver (Beacon Press, 2006).
With a nod to Van Morrison's "Rave on, John Donne." And special thanks to Lois and Jeff Shelden for permission to use their images here and in many other issues of TW.
