I've been thinking often lately about this time last year, all the ways in which I was merely surviving. I've slowed down and turned inward with the change of the season, noticing the many ways in which I feel at ease. I've curated a new collection of songs recently that captures a mood festering within me: recognition, reflection, anticipation, elation, curiosity, gratitude. I see light where there was night and more night, growth where there was once a wall. The New Year is my favorite holiday because it can be challenging sometimes to witness and experience a beginning, to hold space for it, to see all the possibility in forward motion, looking back at where we've been, how far we've come. The New Year gives us that space, if we choose to take it, to slow down, to process, to look both forward and back. What will the coming days bring? What will I give to them? What have I learned that I can apply toward my becoming? What do I want? Who will I be?
All of this is to say, happy New Year, we've reached another, and I know I have come so far from where I was a year ago and am grateful to have time and space and company and light in which I can continue to grow. Hold onto your rituals. Practice breath. Listen to what moves you. Share space and time with others. Let yourself be.
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With the start of this new year we are getting ready to start working toward the production of ISSUE 04 of The Champagne Room. We are so excited to be adding new members to our team for this issue--we are bringing on Ron L Estrada, Sam Ferguson, Jessica Heron, and Dana Kinsey as readers.
Submissions for ISSUE 04 open on January 15th. We will be accepting submissions through April 15th. Our new submissions guidelines (including where to send your submissions) are on our website. Please share this open window with folks who are interested in having work considered for publication in The Champagne Room. We are so looking forward to reading your words.
A final announcement: we will be at the AWP conference in Kansas City next month. While The Champagne Room will not have a booth, we are looking forward to sharing space with our community; let us know if you're planning to attend and would like to connect.
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Our contributor conversation this month is with Eric DePriester whose piece "Postcard from Boonville" appears in ISSUE 03. Visit our website to learn more about his thoughts on using poetry as an emotional release, rejecting power sources, finding new wells of creative inspiration, and more.
There are many more conversations available with past contributors in our library if you've missed them, lots of excellent reading recommendations and thoughts on writing--check them out!
Love and Light,
Heather
Founder and Co-Editor, The Champagne Room