The Awakenings Review: Volume 7 Number 1

The Awakenings Review


Volume 7 Number 1 (Fall 2017)

Awakenings Review, Vol 7 No 1Foreword by IRENE O'NEILL, Associate Editor

We're pleased to welcome anew assistant editor, Audrey Sher-Walton, who grew up on Fresh Meadow Lane. Surrounded by asphalt, it wasn't fres, a meadow, or even a lane. Audrey is the founder & facilitator of Write ON! East-side Writing Group. Two of her poems won Pima's Family Heritage Contest. She's been featured on KXCI's Poet's Moment and penned monthly columns in Tucson newspapers. Her poems have been published in Zocolo & Aurora. Audrey owns Mrs. Audrey's Academic Achievement---a tutoring service. She enjoys swimming, reading, playing her flute, organic gardening & spending time with her family. Although a desert dweller, in her mind she lives right near the ocean. Audrey is undertaking a new AR project to encourage and facilitate writers' excellence. You can reach her at AwakeningsASW@aol.com.

I got a post on our facebook page today from Kim Cavanagh, stating, "I will forever hold the Awakenings Project close to my heart and soul as I continue on my journey of well-being and wholness. I loved being published in the Awakenings Review both times!!! I will always spread the word about Awakenings!" It is messages like this that feed my spirit and make me want to keep working on as many aspects of this project as possible. I've said before that I mainly focus on the visual art, and that really doe keep me very busy. In fact I have never considered myself a true artist, but I'm a good organizer, and I make great connections with arts venues. Additionally, I work full-time as a Certified Recovery Support Specialist at the DuPage County Health Department, teaching a variety of classes and facilitating Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) groups, which in and of itself keeps me very busy. I also have the privilege of working alongside Robert Lundin and Sandra Jo Mazurek the the Health Department five days a week.

Yet another example of an exciting communication was from Iiris Kasanen. She recently wrote: "Is it possible to order the Fall 2015 issue? I'm writing from Finland, so I'd like it to be mailed here." It is wondrous how far The Awakenings Review reaches. It also gave me a chance to write back to her and try out the Finnish phrases I remembered from taking Finnish classes with my best friend, Carol Price (a very Americanized name). Iiris knew exactly what I was trying to say, but corrected my spelling, adding many additional vowels. I love foreign languages, having taken German, Spanish, and French, and I especially love non-speaking ones, like ASL, or American Sign Language, which I learned while working at Bell Labs, which then became Lucent Technologies, then Alcatel-Lucent, and now Nokia.

Another recent communication was from an author in this current issue, Margo Barnes. She was inquiring about the status of her submission and said, "Thank you for getting back to me. I would love to be a part of the Awakenings Project in whatever way I might contribute. Thanks again and please let me know if my essay is still under consideration." Of course, it had already been accepted and it was so poignant, I cried when I read it.

Since I have to redirect my manic energy into something positive, Awakenings Fine Arts and The Awakenings Review seem like good causes. What I do as "Associate Editor" of The Awakenings Review is much less about editing anyone's work, and more about administrating, prepping, and proofreading the writing. As announced, a wonderful new addition to The Awakenings Review, Audrey Sher-Walton, Assistant Editor, has been offering very helpful critiques to those authors whose works might need a little more work, and our original Associate Editor, Paul McComas, has resurfaced and may want to take on a larger role. So I have a feeling my days may be numbered as Associate Editor, but the truth is, I was just trying to step in and help out when needed. And I'm not sure I'm needed in that capacity any longer.

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