Lights

Description

LIGHTS—a zine. Creative-connections through short stories, poetry, essays & art.

short stories: John Christopher Nelson / essays: Baret Magarian, Mary Lou Sanelli / poetry: Esther Cohen, John Delaney, Eileen Duncan, Scott Ezell, David Grosskopf, Alicia Hokanson, Edward Harkness, Jared Leising, Claudia Castro Luna, Kevin Miller, Melissa Niño, Allison Paul, Sherry Rind, Sarah Plimpton, Scott Ruescher, Judith Skillman, Kari VAmaro, Thomas Walton, Michael Dylan Welch, Shin Yu Pai / art: Jason Bloom, Lauren Grosskopf, Nancy Peacock, Lara Swimmer, Travis Winn, Robert Zimmer

LIGHTS zine is a new creative space for a variety of local and Pleasure Boat Studio talents, that just so happens to have come to fruition during this pandemic… something to read in a quiet moment of vira-cation. This pandemic-quarantine is a fertile time for creative-connection, for those not suffering greatly with the virus or horribly weighted with tragedy. It’s been interesting to see the way the world pretty much instantly sought to connect largely through video and social media… singing off balconies, painting masked medical heroes and such on walls, reading & singing together, passing the baton country to country or person to person, zooming holidays and classes and facetimes with friends and family. We get a look see into people’s homes which is pretty cool I think, I like all of the political satirists little nooks… it’s personal and casual and it’s a great break from the norm. There’s a view into people’s lives we never would have known before, and we won’t be so housebound soon, but things will definitely be different…like I’m pretty sure there will be newfound respect for toilet paper!

Behind the name: When first coming up with the name for this collective way to publish more people, I was thinking of one word possibilities, starting with boat related ideas to pair the theme with ‘Pleasure Boat’: mast, anchor, waves, skiff, oar, etc. Then, ‘lights’ came to me, simple as that and I liked it and stuck with it. The feeling of it felt warm, infinite, fresh, mysterious, clean, airy, mystical, soft, glowing, urban, can’t even describe it really….Then, I got to thinking of forms of light, natural and electric, and the feeling and meanings “Light” can evoke by what light is cast, by which angle and direction, and what lights can show or reveal, reflect or bare witness to. Lights illuminate the dark so we can see, so we can see where we’re going, and see where we are.

So, take a glimpse and a ponder into what these contributors want to show you, for what they may put a spotlight on in our lit up world, however dark it might get sometimes.

Many thanks to all of the wonderful and talented contributors for sharing their work in this zine!!! I am truly grateful and honored. There is a wealth of brilliant variety in here… I hope you enjoy and pass this along, with this offering as well, from:

Claudia Castro Luna,
Washington State Poet Laureate (2018 – 2021),
who is sharing this public online space:
Poems to Lean On: for solace, resilience, hope
Submit at[email protected]

Right before I sent this announcement, waiting for the PDF to finish saving, I read an article I’ve been wanting to read for a few days: David Lynch talks about meditation, wood and electricity, and light. This article couldn’t be a better intro to the hope and creativity that can come out of this period of sequestering, as nature tries to restore a little bit of its health. Lynch’s equation basically boils down to meditation for (possible world) peace and creativity through connecting with the positive energy we all have inside of us when we clear away the negative and fears that block creative thought.
David Lynch Wants You to Meditate, Maybe Make a Lamp During Self-Isolation

Hopefully the air will clear soon, until then stay safe and healthy!

Book Designed by Lauren Grosskopf