Groundwaters

Themes and things…

September 9, 2008 on 1:35 pm | In This 'n That | No Comments

The October issue of Groundwaters is almost complete. It’s so much fun to see how each issue shapes up. At the beginning of each, we’re not sure how it will look or what it will include. Oh, we usually know ahead of time what our cover is going to look like and because we have a theme each quarter, we have our own articles and poems to include. But, we never know what wonderful works will arrive on our doorstep from our readers and contributors. That’s the fun part!

I thought that I’d explain our use of themes. Even though we assign a one-word theme for each issue, we don’t require that our entire content be centered around it – but it’s fun if as many pieces as possible do. We try to select themes that can mean different things to different people. The October/Fall 2008 theme is “Root.” The word “root” can refer to a tree or a plant’s underpinnings or it can refer to one’s heritage or the beginning or foundation of something. It can mean “to cheer” for one’s team or refer to the way a hog digs in the ground with its nose for food.

The January/Winter 2009 issue’s theme is “Refresh.” This theme is a little more obscure and will make our writers think a bit harder about what they want to write. It can mean to begin again or to quench one’s thirst, or to change one’s thinking or actions, among others. The fun part is to see how many different meanings our contributors come up with to express the theme.

The theme for April/Spring 2009 is “Wonder;” the one selected for the July/Summer 2009 issue is “Light” while the October/Winter 2009 theme is “Journey.”

I hope that more of our writers will begin using our themes. One of those who has come on board only recently, but has managed to come up with some wonderful theme-based stories and poems, is Wanda Edwards of the Celeste Campbell Senior Center writers group in Eugene. She reflects the enthusiasm and the imagination that we are hoping to inspire and encourage in others.

We also try to match our content with the seasons and holidays covered by each quarter, too. Unfortunately, it sometimes delays publication for some submissions because they are submitted at the end of a particular season. Two works in the October issue are good examples. “Winter Waiting” was submitted to us by Karen Wickham last January after the Winter issue had already been published. We asked Karen if she would mind if we held it until at least our Fall issue covering the quarter of October through December. I think you’ll find that it’s well worth the wait. Another example that we are including this go-round is “Stumplord,” a story about tree planting in Oregon by Norm Maxwell. He sent it to us last Fall. Even though it would have been appropriate in the January 2008 issue, as well, we decided to hold it for our October “Root”-themed issue.

We encourage the writers groups who are increasingly using Groundwaters for some of their activities to use our themes as a writer’s challenge. And, by all means, send us your best! That’s what we are here for! We want to showcase the untapped talent we have in our local area. Even if you live outside of Lane County, don’t let that stop you from submitting. Groundwaters is gaining popularity in other areas, too. After all, good writing has no boundaries!