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CALYX – Winter 2004

Volume 31 Number 3

Winter 2004

Jeannine Hall Gailey

In this issue of the feminist (and I use that term in the best possible way) journal Calyx, fertility, childbirth and motherhood are recurrent themes, in pieces such as the poems “Your Underwear Showing,” “Womb of Womanhood,” “Rags of the Moon” and prose pieces “Rest Stop” and “Forfeiting Motherhood.”

In this issue of the feminist (and I use that term in the best possible way) journal Calyx, fertility, childbirth and motherhood are recurrent themes, in pieces such as the poems “Your Underwear Showing,” “Womb of Womanhood,” “Rags of the Moon” and prose pieces “Rest Stop” and “Forfeiting Motherhood.” I was especially drawn to the story “The Adeline Shop,” by Helen Alene Pollack, about a woman reunited with her grandfather, who, after abandoning his wife and daughter, has drifted into almost mythical status by the time he is found unexpectedly. The art work is Calyx always ranges from charming to astounding; this issue (and cover art) showcases the surreal work of Mary Josephson, whose paintings of women, often surrounded by symbolic objects such as snakes and fruit, might draw comparisons to Frida Kahlo, as her work has a similar ability to draw you into the inner life of the painter. But Josephson’s ability to conjure serene and pensive character into the faces of her women is all her own.

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