The Weekly Atticus (5/20/2017)

A recap of the week at Atticus Review, along with some extras.

View this email in your browser

Dear ,(This week's letter introduction comes from Michael Meyerhofer, Atticus Review's Poetry Editor.)If you’re reading this, that means you’re literate—and that’s a very good thing. It also means you’ve honored us with your time and attention... and well, we appreciate that, too. I’m Michael Meyerhofer. I’m a poet and fantasy author and I’ve been the Poetry Editor here at Atticus Review [insert invisible pause during which I look back at my C.V.] since 2011. In that time, I’ve seen the magazine grow by leaps, bounds, gallops, and maybe one or two enthusiastic sessions of bear-crawling. It’s not just the skyrocketing number of submissions; it’s not just the growing roster of great writers we’ve published, either. Primarily, it’s the sheer number who are stopping by our bright little circus tent to see what we’re up to. Often, we writers get so caught up in the writing and submitting process that we forget something very important: much like the full moon, there’s an entire side to this thing that we never get to see. And I’m not talking about the lives and labors of editors. Rather, I’m talking about all the people we’ll probably never meet who are reading the very same poem, story, or essay as you, and proving (like one of those movie montages where people in different places all spontaneously start singing the same song) that we’re not nearly as isolated as we think. I was talking to a friend the other day who said he’d made a point lately of going back and watching local TV stations, especially when a given show or movie was also available on Netflix, for the commercials. Not because he likes commercials, you understand, but to get back to something we didn’t lose so much as forget. Back in the day, there was always this unspoken feeling when you watched a television show that others—hundreds, thousands—were doing the exact same thing, and even if you couldn’t see them, we were all inexplicably connected via a means less tangible (but no less mystical) than quantum entanglement. Well, all of that applies to reading, as well. But enough of my rambling. You’re here. We’re here. And that’s a good thing.Michael Meyerhofer, Poetry Editor

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FERAL TOWN by Adam Gustavson

TULLY

ONE MORE TIME AROUND: On Chris Cornell, Survival Technique, and Statement vs Counterstatement in Songs.By David Olimpio"Although I came of age in the 90s and was a proper grunge disciple, I was never really a big Soundgarden fan. As a proper grunge disciple, though, the ambient tenor of Soundgarden nevertheless permeated my psyche. It has been the toasted breath of my living. Today, my soul, in some small part, is at least partially comprised of Chris Cornell’s 4-octave resonance. We all have a soundtrack to our lives and he is part of mine, and likely part of yours, whether you like his music or not."(The first of a new series of "Stories about Songs." Submit yours here.)READ MORE

BOOK REVIEW: WE ALL SCREAM by Andrew GiffordReview by Eshani Surya"Andrew Gifford’s telling of the ice cream behemoth doesn’t ring with the same affection as others’ might. Gifford’s story is one of abuse and lies, corruption and paranoia. We learn about the unshakable rats that roamed the backrooms. We learn that the ice cream might have been poisoned with mercury. We All Scream is an unflinching tell-all about how what one sees, and even tastes, is not always reality."READ MORE

FICTION: GROWNUPSBy Andrew R. Touhy"A: I wonder, at what point does a man feel grown? When do his thoughts and words and deeds dovetail organically, declaring finally to the world that he’s no longer a child?B: This is an ideal condition? An endpoint you aspire to?A: A point, or position, I feel required to achieve, yes. Is there not overwhelming pressure? I mean genuine constraining if not constricting forces at work, pressing us to be and be seen as adult?"READ MORE

MAY FEATURED POET: SANDRA MARCHETTI"Regular readers of Atticus Review will recognize the name of Sandra Marchetti, either from pieces she’s published with us before, Liz Purvis’s review of her excellent debut collection, Confluence, or poems she’s published elsewhere (like these fine pieces in Split Lip Magazine). So we’re delighted to share an extra dose of pure Marchetti goodness this month."READ MORE

CNF: ALMOSTBy Colleen O'Connor"Am I bragging now? I’m actually quite embarrassed by this point of pride, this gratuitous outpouring of my sexual history and my over-identification with it. I can’t seem to get to the bottom of it—why I feel so compelled to go over every detail, why I feel there’s anything even particularly noteworthy about it, why I’m wrought with both shame and pride. I feel split in half. In conversation, I embarrass easily and I blush a lot. Alone, I’m baffled by my own desire, overcome with it and miserable. It’s this thing that I can’t shake, this shape I want to cut off myself like a paper silhouette."READ MORE

MIXED MEDIA: POE'S PURLOINED MOLARSA short film by Christy Sheffield Sanford"'Poe's Purloined Molars' is one of a series of bedtime horror stories for adults. The animation is part of a larger multimedia project called The Hem-nal with Charlotte M. Porter that explores hidden versus shared realities. The Poe section was inspired by fantasies, Edgar Allan Poe's life and his story "Berenice." Christy Sheffield Sanford lives near the majestic St. Johns River in Florida. She holds a Masters Degree in Creative Writing and Interarts from Antioch University and has won an NEA in Poetry."READ MORE

MOVIE REVIEW: NEVER MIND WHAT WE DON'T KNOW: THE LOST CITY OF Zby Alison Lanier "There’s something particularly disappointing about a masterfully made movie, a movie that shines and innovates on screen, stingingly and sonorously written, beautifully directed, and stunningly acted—that withers in the end because its mythos, its drive, remains terminally dulled. The Lost City of Z is a near-masterpiece. But where it achieves brilliance scene-by-scene, as a whole the movie doesn’t deliver the sense of mystery and wonder that it promises."READ MORE