Look at What You've Accomplished (David Intro) (07/17/2021)

Look at What You've Accomplished | The Weekly Atticus

A recap of the week's writing at Atticus Review. Intro by David Olimpio.

Mid-summer always leaves me feeling reflective. It feels like the end and beginning of a new cycle. I guess that's a holdover to how our lives get structured around school growing up. It's typical to think about resolutions and goals at the turn of the calendar year, but I bet just as many of us think about them in late summer, along with taking stock of where we were last year at this time. What we've been able to achieve. What got left undone. For me personally, that's included an honest look at my writing. An awareness that I didn't get as much of it done as I'd hoped. That there is a piece of nonfiction I began last summer, on June 22nd according to the file details, which is still pretty much in the same state as it was then, despite the fact that I keep thinking of it as "that thing I'm working on." Yikes. So that's a bit of a bummer. But I've been learning to focus on what I've achieved rather than what I haven't, and I did manage to get something important to me published last month and that feels pretty good.I'm also happy about what we've accomplished at Atticus Review during such an unprecedented and difficult year. This is a testament to the hard work of our wonderful editors and their dedication to reading the growing number of submissions we receive each week. We've also added to our talented group of readers to help handle the increasing load, and a few of them have started adding their voices to this newsletter each week, which has been very cool.Doing a quick tally, we've published over 160 pieces of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or videopoems over the last 11 months. Some of those made it into some "Best of" anthologies. We added a way for our authors to update their profiles and add their published books to that profile page. And beginning last September we moved to a model where we have been able to pay our contributors a small honorarium. This is thanks in large part from the support of all of you — readers, submitters, friends, family. Thank you. We've accomplished a lot. And so, as we wind up the publishing "academic year," I'd like to take a moment, to make a small ask for your support. If you find value in this weekly newsletter, from the thoughtful craft-related reflections we send each week from our editors and readers, or from the pieces we published that week, 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, you can help support us simply by submitting to the magazine. (With this last method, you will actually see a 100% return on your investment if we publish your submission, which is a pretty amazing rate of return!) After today, we'll be taking a publishing break with plans to start back up again in September. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer. As for me, I plan to watch a lot of the Olympics. Do some more reflecting. And I am going to try to take a road trip somewhere, something I haven't done since before the pandemic. Thanks for reading. We're glad you're here.David OlimpioPublisher & Editor-in-Chief

Our Reading List is updated each week. Go check it out!Are you a contributor to Atticus Review who'd like your book featured in the reading list? Send us an email at [email protected]. 

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FICTIONTUFA ROCKby Dylan A. Smith"Bill dreamt of wicked things, and all of them were new. See the way these feelings startled him awake just minutes before his father’s old clock radio was set to sound at five. And how..."READ ON

POETRYFIVE POEMSby Liz Marlow"I wish I knew why you and Daddy left. Sometimes, Mommy holds one of the shirts that you left up to her face and takes a deep breath. It’s the same way that she used to breathe in the bouquets of lilies that Daddy gave her on her birthdays."READ ON

CREATIVE NONFICTIONBURNING DOWN THE HOUSEby Adam GolubLatest in our Superunknown: Stories About Songs series"I hadn’t planned to do any of this. I’d given no thought to stagecraft beyond wearing a fedora. Cheers—screams? cries for help?—start to come from the audience."READ ON

MIXED MEDIANO NAME NO VERBby Ronald Tobey"Imagism is a more primitive form of knowledge than linguistic constructions. It is close to sensory exploration of the world. I strive to convey moods, experiences, and scenes through descriptives with a minimum of language syntax."READ ON

SUPPORT ATTICUS!

We are able to bring you content such as this through the generous support of writers and readers like yourself. Please consider becoming a regular

today. All subscription levels include free submissions.

**For photo credits, follow links to stories.**