We Interrupt This Newsletter To... (David Intro) (02/27/2021)

A recap of the week's writing at Atticus Review and a request for support. 

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On Monday of this week my public radio station in Philadelphia did a one-day fundraising drive. I usually listen to NPR in the morning when I'm starting my day. So when I stepped out of the shower and pulled up the app on my phone and heard that particular tone of voice that conveyed "marketing pitch" rather "news and feature story," I felt a slight heart-sink of annoyance and disappointment. My first impulse was to shut off the app. (It's weird to keep saying "app" instead of "radio" but I'm a stickler for accuracy and, by god, truth be told I own no actual radio, even though I listen to it each morning.) Normally I might have gone ahead and done that (shut it off). But maybe due to the pandemic I have more patience these days. That, or I'm terribly desperate for human voice no matter what it is telling me. (Ok, probably both.) Whatever the reason, I found I actually enjoyed listening to the marketing spiel. I almost had a feeling this time like it was my duty to listen to it (in addition to actually contributing money.) Like the value they bring me each morning was worth not just my dollars but my time listening to them ask me for it.It's tax-preparation season and I'm always surprised around this time of year when I add up all the little costs associated with Atticus Review, which seem small as they're happening but build up over the course of a year. We've been in the midst of changing our model to one where we can reliably pay online contributors a small honorarium for their contribution. And while that's great, it does add another ongoing expense on top of the many other service-related (mostly tech-related) costs. I don't make frequent calls for support. I like giving them about as much as I like listening to them, so I'll keep this one short. If you get value out of this weekly newsletter, whether from the pieces from awesome writers we publish that week, or from the thoughtful craft-related reflections from our editors (or both) please consider making a contribution. There are four ways you can do this. One is by becoming a Patreon Subscriber. Another is by giving a one-time contribution. Another is by ordering a print magazine or laptop sticker. And finally, we know most of you are writers, and so perhaps the best way you can help support us (and indeed yourself!) is simply by submitting to the magazine. With this last method, you actually see a 100% return on your investment if we publish your submission, which is a pretty amazing rate of return, especially when you consider the 10-year treasury note interest rate, though rising, is still only 1.5%!) Thank you to the many of you who already support us financially or otherwise. Thanks for reading (even when we're interrupting things with a marketing pitch). We're glad you're here. David OlimpioPublisher & Editor-in-Chief

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FICTIONALL I'LL CARRY: FOUR EXCERPTSby Kathryn Kulpa"Imagine a time when people pumped gallons and gallons of water into a cement hole in the ground and swam in it. So much water. How could we ever run out?"READ ON

POETRYTHE BATby Thomas Dooley @dooleypoet"through his bodyI enter the body waiting for me—"READ ON

CREATIVE NONFICTIONALL LIGHT SHINING THROUGHby Will McMillan"It never occurs to me to attempt to explain it. Never occurs to me to describe out loud what I’m seeing. I only know that numbers like to stack up, and when I go beyond single digits, the results are a lottery."READ ON

MIXED MEDIARISK!by Grace Mattern"'Risk!' as a mixed media piece, suggested itself when I found my late husband’s game during a pandemic-fueled cleaning of closets and cupboards. The poem is written on the borders of the board, echoing the spacing of the textual poem and laid out to create a contained statement within each fragment."READ ON

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