Crazyhorse is one of the well-known Greats in terms of literary journals, around since 1960, publishing biannually, whose claims-to-fames include Bukowski, Ashbery, Carver, Updike and other classic writer-stars. This past issue, #77, featured some knock-your-socks-off work that is alone worth the $9 cost.
While all the stories were unsurprisingly quality, Tess Wheelwright's "Max Donaldson and his Son" blew me away and stuck with me the most since I read the issue weeks ago. Wheelwright does a superb job of painting her main character Max Donaldson, through close third person narrative and unmistakable voice, as incredibly flawed, self-deluded and unlikeable -- and yet still a compelling character to read. The story is able to dance between casually tragic and subtly funny, most especially the climactic scene where Max Donaldson travels to witness his son honored in a public ceremony, with unexpected results that perhaps goes over the head of her clueless character Max, but is somehow both hilarious and heartsinking for us readers.
You can read the first page of Wheelwright's story in the Crazyhorse sample issue online. I looked for more work by this author, but didn't find any. (Sad face inserted here)
Secondly, Emily Rosko's poems in this issue were delightful. Poetry's definitely not my forte, but sometimes poems pop out at me and grab me and make me smile and think, "This is wonderful." Rosko's "To Pasture," "[The world is deceived with ornament]" and "Timbered" did just that. Apparently Ms. Rosko was a recipient of the Stenford Fellowship, a monetary award and prestigious teaching-writing workshop at Stanford that every writer dreams of. Here's a link to one of Rosko's poems called "Even Before Your Elbow Knocked Over The Glass" on Verse Daily (+ originally published in Quarterly West).
I love not being in school anymore and having time to read living, breathing, up-and-coming writers.
Hi, Faith. I couldn't agree more. Crazyhorse is an excellent journal. This summer I attended a workshop in Iowa facilitated by Anthony Vallero, who is the fiction editor at Crazyhorse. He seemed like a really good guy, and it was an excellent workshop. One of the stories I wrote during the workshop was recently published on the Hobart website.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog when someone told me that you had written about a story of mine that was published in decomP back in June. Thanks for the kind words.
Chuck Augello
Hey Chuck, thanks for the comment! That workshop sounds like something worth checking out. I've never attended a workshop myself outside of school, but they are led by some amazing writers and editors. And I'll definitely be reading your story. I love Hobart!
ReplyDeleteTake care.