There’s a bright new kid on the block in the literary magazine neighborhood, and the name is AUDIENCE. The editor is the New York playwright M. Stefan Strozier. I believe that his new creation deserves careful attention - and I’m not saying that just because this edition of the magazine contains three of my haiku poems and my notes on them, as well as a 10-page interview with me about my novel, Apart from You (Wildside Press, 2000).
Eclecticism and a decidedly international outlook are two of the hallmarks of AUDIENCE. The literary entries in this issue include poetry, short stories, and plays, and there are also two lengthy author interviews. Mr. Strozier is happy to consider art and photography for inclusion in future editions. He also accepts ads. See below for contact information.
There are almost 40 poems here, ranging in length from 17 syllables (my haiku poems) to several pages. I’m not usually a great fan of contemporary poetry, and I found a few selections very pretentious and opaque to the point of being unreadable. However, the patient reader can hardly fail to be impressed by the range of styles, the social consciousness of many of the poems, and the overall quality. The sometimes dark topics include mad American derelicts, Queen Elizabeth and the author’s opinion that the concept of royalty is out of date, the death of a younger brother, General Custer, the horrors of Darfur, paranoia, a bitter divorce, and much, much more. Many of the poems, especially the shorter ones, are tremendously moving and evocative. A few of the poems are quite witty, such as Jack Cooper's "This Welling Up," in which he ponders the eternal and universal appeal of attractive young women.
Ernest Dempsey (the Pakistani writer Abdul Karim Khan), who conducted the above-mentioned interview with me, is a gifted interviewer and reviewer. He’s also a highly original and prolific young writer. His other contributions to this issue include a sad note on Afghan culture (about how brides are expected to hide their faces from their mothers-in-law for up to a year), a recounting of his melancholy yet hopeful New Year’s dream, and his frank and eloquent answers to the interview questions posed by the editor.
The interview with Dempsey/Khan touches on topics as diverse as his own lack of religion while being surrounded by devout Muslims in his home in rural Pakistan, his surprising indifference toward politics, the glories of the Internet, the need for literature based on humanistic philosophy, and the amusing origin of his pen name.
A.G. Bennett contributed "Memoirs of a Star Child," an excellent and moving science fiction story about a sad and hunted alien who foretells the coming disasters due to global warming. My husband, David Dvorkin, is the author of 16 science fiction novels as well as numerous stories. Thus, I've read a fair number of science fiction stories, and am pretty critical. This story won my heart.
The seven short to very short plays in this collection also have extremely diverse subjects. There is the dreamy little boy whose father has to suffer a heart attack before he can learn to love the awkward child. There are the two young American soldiers who are trying to distract themselves from the dangers of Omaha Beach with talk of baseball and pin-up queens. There is the woman in her late thirties who finally reveals to her frustrated young driving instructor the tragic reason behind her hesitation to get behind the wheel again.
My favorite among the plays is THE VISITOR, by Pamela L. Laskin. It's about a pregnancy which feels to the resentful young mother like an invasion by a monstrous stranger. The fetus has its own sinister role. It appears on stage as a speaking, leaping, rolling alien who keeps complaining of the dark and demanding to be released from its confinement. Humorous and horrible all at once, the play cannot fail to rouse unsettling feelings of recognition in any woman who has ever been less than happily pregnant.
AUDIENCE No. 4 concludes with seven pages of notes on the 23 contributors. Some of these autobiographical entries could have been longer, and some of them probably should have been a great deal shorter, especially the one by the writer of the most pretentious poetry. Still, it's good of Mr. Strozier to give the authors the chance to write their own notes about themselves and their works. Some of the authors provide their e-mail addresses.
From my correspondence with Mr. Strozier, I know that he is seeking submissions of literature, art, and photos. He says that very few subjects are out of bounds. An unusual and attractive aspect is that he refuses to allow his own political opinions to come into play when he's judging the merits of a particular submission.
So check it out, all you creative types out there! Buy this issue, get the feel of it, then get busy creating and submitting. Let’s keep this great new magazine alive, and strive to make it livelier still.
Purchasing and submitting information:
AUDIENCE, VOL. 1, NO. 4
ISBN 1-934209-32-5
$11.99 on www.amazon.com
Website: www.worldaudience.org
Submissions: submissions@worldaudience.org