On the Contents and Contributors for Canopic Jar 25

Everyone included in 25 has previously been involved with Canopic, and each responded to a personal request to be included in this issue.

Ciretta Carroll and Rethabile Masilo both offer wonderfully penned poems honoring Janice, to whom this issue is dedicated (see intro). Rethabile also gives us "Simon" and "Stallion," poems that demonstrate why he is recognized as a poet whose voice transcends generational as well as geographical boundaries. 

Carroll Dale Short, who has lent his talents as a prose stylist and photographer to previous Jars, offers a poem and a short bit of fiction as well as a couple of photos for this silver edition. It bothers me not at all to say that Dale is one of my favorite writers, so I am always proud to be associated with his art—whatever the media.

Canopic Publishing, which became an independent book publisher in 2003, is represented in CJ by its two most successful authors, Dave Easton and Doug Hoekstra. Easton, who penned Leatherneck Sea Stories in 2007, gives us "Rats," a short little taste of his unique and much-praised prose style. Hoekstra's Bothering the Coffee Drinkers garnered recognition for Canopic Publishing at the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards. He returns to Canopic Jar with two pieces, one from the book ("That's How Strong My Love Is") and another prose dish fresh from his keyboard ("Short Songs, Long Lives"). 

Two highly acclaimed and in demand artists, Sarah Hasty Williams and Alan Phillips, lend images to the pages, and Canopic Jar is humbled by their respective accomplishments and professional standing, as always. Alan's vibrant portrait of James Joyce brings a colorful authority to the index page, and his painting for Between the Bones (Canopic 2004) marks the entrance. Sarah's enchanting mountain landscapes and nature scenes accompany several individual poems.  

And, setting modesty further aside, I'm also represented (Phil Rice). "The Recognition: a Vignette" is, despite its structure, a love poem dedicated to Janice. "Cobblestones of Civil Rights" is a short prose narrative touching upon the Civil Rights Movement, specifically in the American South, and also serves as a good segue for introducing the final contributor: Will D. Campbell, the human rights activist and bestselling author of Brother to a Dragonfly.  

Will's list of accomplishments is much too important to trivialize with a standard mini-bio, but suffice it to say that a quick internet search will take the interested reader on a journey well worth the trip. His "Millie" is included here simply because I love the man and I think his writing is important and should be shared. So I am sharing it. That is, to my way of thinking, the best goal of Canopic Jar as it begins its second quarter century: to be a venue for sharing art.

PR

January 2012