Writing Community (Dorothy Intro) (10/12/2019)

This letter is a recap of the week at

Atticus Review

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A few weeks ago, I visited the Orchard Tea Garden in Grantchester, Cambridge — where Virginia Woolf and members of the famous Bloomsbury group took tea under the lush awnings of blossoming apple trees. Inside the tearoom, as I slathered jam and clotted cream onto a scone beneath a photo of Rupert Brooke, I was reminded of a discussion about community and privilege.A week or so prior, I read through social media posts about finding a writing group and how difficult that can be when traveling to meet others involves finding (and paying) a babysitter or navigating accessibility issues. It was a refreshingly thoughtful conversation where some who may have not initially considered the barriers in place for others became aware of how opportunities for community-building often depend on privilege.Sitting there where members of the Bloomsbury group had once sat, it was fun to imagine listening in on what they might have discussed during that time, even as I was keenly aware that I would have, indeed, been only listening in from the outside. (Even my imagination is shot through with the reality of my socio-economic status.) These were people who enjoyed privileges that most of us do not. Maybe if we're more open and honest about the privileges that exist for some of us now, just as they existed for those in Woolf’s circle, we can begin to rethink the opportunities in place today. It's a start, at least. In my case: I don't apply to residencies because of the complications they involve, and I don't belong to an in-person writing group where I share my work, for similar reasons. But I don't begrudge the writers who are able to do these things — they are finding their communities where they can, and they are using that time and space in service of their work. So I'm doing my best to become part of, and support, communities by alternative means. I belong to several online writing groups. I've found a few trusted readers I can exchange early drafts with. And, although there are legitimate criticisms to be made about the pitfalls of social media, I've found much of the writing community there to be encouraging and charitable. Just reading the work shared through these spaces has broadened my perspective, and improved my writing.Likewise, the community I've found here at Atticus Review has enriched and reinvigorated my work. It's my privilege to be able to read and share the writing entrusted to us, and to work with this team of editors each day. You're part of our community too. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Keep sending your work.Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here. Dorothy BendelManaging Editor 

ATTICUS NEWS

We're anxiously awaiting your Flash for ourThird Annual Flash Fiction Contest,judged by Danielle Evans.Don't keep us in suspense!READ ON

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

BOOK REVIEWMODERN MAGICAL REALISMA Review of CHIMERICA by Anita FelicelliReview by Alice Lu"Some of Maya’s moments of intense jealousy andwanting come not from her comparison to othersbut to her comparison to her online doppelganger."GET THE BOOKREAD THE REVIEW

FICTIONNEVER IN A MILLION YEARSby Amy Stuber "She sits and then leans back while trying tosmile and laugh like Hannah and Brielle and thendoes it again. There are things girls are supposedto be and do that she isn’t and doesn’t..."READ ON

POETRYIT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE THIS FROM THE STARTby Theadora Siranian"...the apotropaic fires we tend in the darkness,keeping our souls warm. I always love eachthing so much at first, every city, each timbre..."READ ON

CREATIVE NONFICTIONTHE STORIES WE HOLD INSIDEby Jesus Peña"when i finish speaking, he has his drink pressedagainst his lips, ice to mouth. not a good sign.which only deepens my hatred for storytelling"READ ON

INTERVIEW“YOUR SENSE OF BELONGING WILL ALWAYS BE CRACKED”:ARIA ABER ON HARD DAMAGE"There are so many ways of touching, so manyways of intimacy, and most of them are notromantic or erotic at all." ~ Aria AberREAD ON

MIXED MEDIATHE IMAGE: PERIPHERYby Philip Arnold"This series offers an opportunity to explorethis creative possibility at the junction of image,sound and text."READ ON

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