Some college literary magazines exist primarily to
publish the scribblings of a group of friends. I edited — OK,
perpetrated — a couple of them back in the day. Then there are those
with higher goals. SCOPE, published by the Southern Illinois University School of
Medicine, is in its 15th year (go to www.siumed.edu/oec/SCOPE/index.htm to
see all issues) and accepts work from the community as well as students,
faculty, and alumni. Topics may be general or related to health care. Of
course, it’s the medical that fascinates: Doctors peer at us patients
so intently — what are they seeing? How do they feel about us bags of
flesh and fluid?
Jan Presley’s poem “You Speak of Med
School Cadavers” treads the line between life and death and finding
the tear-stained humor of mortality. Bad poetry clunks and thuds. Good
verse pleases. Great works twist your heart around in your body and change
your eyes so they never again see in quite the same way. My face was
thoroughly wet by the time I finished reading this poem.
In SCOPE, doctors grieve over patients, pets, and even idealism lost
(as in Dr. Marc Tumerman’s “Detachment”). In
“Upsurge,” Amber May celebrates birth from a baby’s point
of view. “All Hallow’s Eve,” a prose piece by Fawn
Hoener, describes a costume party and dance in the mental ward. She
finishes with “The Activities Director is either oblivious or
inspired. I can’t decide.”
Springfield College-Benedictine University and
WUIS/WIPA’s new Quiddity International
Literary Journal has high aspirations, and
its premiere issue bodes well for achieving a global reach. At 169
perfect-bound pages, it’s a hefty presence. Editor Joanna Beth Tweedy
offers interviews in the first issue with such heavyweights as Illinois
poet laureate Kevin Stein and Nigerian author J.O.J. Nwachukwu-Agbada. The
half-dozen black-and-white photographs are by Jim Hill, who has worked with
Ansel Adams. Contributor bios range from first-ever publication to more
than 300, and the list leans to MFAs, academics, and multiple-award
winners.
For me, the juicy part is Quiddity’s first-Wednesday-of-the-month
radio programs, with themes such as wellness, war, and the truth behind
historical figures. Tweedy, the host, leads conversations with writers,
then introduces the readings of various works by their authors. This brings
the print up from the page and into the ear, adding a wonderfully human
dimension. Missed them? No problem — you can listen to past shows,
beginning with May 2008, at www.wuis.org/Quiddity/ and also hear authors
read at www.sci.edu/quiddity/issue01-1.html. The journal appears twice a
year, and Issue 1.2 will be Abraham Lincoln’s “Better
Angels.” Submissions for that issue are being accepted until Aug. 8.
Essays and fiction are good, but I’ve got to
agree with Jasper Fforde, who wrote in the Thursday
Next series that “poetry heads straight
for the limbic system. It’s the crack cocaine of the literary
world.” Both SCOPE and Quiddity provide a quite a rush!
Lola L. Lucas is the author of At Home in the Park: Loving a Neighborhood Back to Life, about Springfield in general and Enos Park in particular.
Her poetry has appeared in Watermarks,
Vintage Visions, Post Mortem Musings,
The Alchemist Review, and
Illinois Times.
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2008.
