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Conduit – Winter 2006

Number 16

Winter 2006

Biannual

Terri Denton

Great literature always seems, to me, to suggest a sort of other-worldly thoughtfulness. Everything, of course, requires thought of some sort, but those who write bring a little something extra into the world. This issue of Conduit provides rebellious proof. All that is contained within the covers – narrative, story, art, interview, and photography – is impressively different from anything, in memory, I’ve read.

Great literature always seems, to me, to suggest a sort of other-worldly thoughtfulness. Everything, of course, requires thought of some sort, but those who write bring a little something extra into the world. This issue of Conduit provides rebellious proof. All that is contained within the covers – narrative, story, art, interview, and photography – is impressively different from anything, in memory, I’ve read. There is the transcendence of Debora Kuan’s poetic musing “Awaken, Yellow Chamber”: “The science of sacrifice is the same anywhere. / Take two objects side by side; ignore their differences. / That thresh approaches thrash is not beside the point.” There is the delightful inventiveness of James Tate’s fiction. “Danger in the Shadows,” is especially good. It reads,”Old man Jameson down the block was murdered by a black widow spider last night in cold blood. I’m on the look-out for that spider. It would be the first time in history that an arachnid would be brought to justice.” And among the undefined is Lisken Van Pelt Dus’s poem, “Teleology”: “Sunset air, sunset fire. / Fire that ate the books / Books that swallowed history // […] The books that burned: […] Geomorphic- Immunity / Think eons. There’s no immunity to change. / Remember, this part of the universe has never / seen us before. // Metaphysics- Norway / The northern midnight glow cannot be explained / by physics alone. Nor can the green forest. Or the / song the fish market sings in Bergen.” And if, after you’ve read Conduit, you require assistance in returning from literary heaven, the editors are more than willing to be of service: “In case of emergency,” they offer, “Conduit can be reached at [email protected]. [ www.conduit.org]

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