Editor’s Note--The Big Picture
Blood Orange Review 4.3

I don’t remember which we accepted first for this new issue, Addie Hopes’ prose piece “Not a Love Story” or Sara E. Lamers’ poem “Proof: A Love Story.” But I do remember what it felt like: grabbing two pieces from a just opened jigsaw puzzle and having them snap effortlessly together.

Over the past couple months, Bryan, Heather, and I have sifted through hundreds of submissions in order to assemble this issue. Each was accepted on its own merit, but I’m always surprised that after all the work is done and I stand back to see what we’ve compiled, a larger image appears.

In this issue you’ll hear prayers and curses, instructions and pleas. You can even hear some in the author’s own voice. It’s a kind of stitched-together call and response. It’s like John Lind’s photograph, “Emerge,” that forms the visual centerpiece for this issue—strangers appearing together from the underground, mysteriously instep.

We’re thrilled to include an interview with poet Brian Turner, another fortunate happenstance that makes this issue stand out. Editor H.K. Hummel writes how she “happened” to attend the AWP panel discussion in February that included Mr. Turner, and after she asked him for an interview, he was gracious enough to accept. Their dialogue explores some very important questions about war, violence, and art.

One thing we see missing from a lot of the work we receive at Blood Orange Review is just that: dialogue. Real people talking to real people. The pieces we select find a way to connect, even if the speakers or characters in them are ulimately alone. And somehow in the assembly of a new issue, a conversation emerges. As editors, it’s our privilege to listen, and with hope, to keep the conversation going by inviting you, the reader, into it.

Stephanie Lenox, editor
Blood Orange Review

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

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