Ink Pot – March 2004

More alternative than academic, InkPot is a literary and art magazine of distinct voices, and few of them sound like creative writing instructors. Many pieces in this issue zero in on relationships, romantic and familial. Infidelities, love triangles, and stubborn family members all get their due.

More alternative than academic, InkPot is a literary and art magazine of distinct voices, and few of them sound like creative writing instructors. Many pieces in this issue zero in on relationships, romantic and familial. Infidelities, love triangles, and stubborn family members all get their due. In some of the strongest pieces, there is a sense of real people making bad decisions (I’m thinking particularly of Angela Havel’s “Pickle and the Road Crew,” a riveting but sad account of the author’s experiences with road crew work and self-destructive behavior). Such stories are not always neatly tied up at the end, nor do they go out on a note of sarcasm or detached irony. There is, instead, often a refreshing indication of something learned. Amidst all the drama, I liked the quiet moment presented by Celia Homesley’s poem, “Widow Moon,” and the confidence of Kathleen McCall’s “Disrobing My Emperor,” about her middle-aged clothing-optional vacation: “Nobody sneered at my elastic-puckers or my cellulite, but nobody ignored them, either. They didn’t have anything to overlook or forgive me for. And neither, by the end of the day, did I.” If you can get past the huge margins and tiny print, you might want to take a squint at Inkpot. [Lit Pot Press, Inc., 3090 Reche Rd. Ste #132, Fallbrook, CA 92028. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue $10. http://www.litpot.com] – JQG