Summer 2013: Young Voices

Introduction

For the third edition of VoiceCatcher, we decided to focus on young voices from one school in greater Portland/Vancouver. Our choice was Oregon Episcopal School in Portland.

I was fortunate to engage several English teachers in identifying work that was distinct and surprising. They sent me nine poems and prose pieces from which to choose five. It wasn't an easy task but, after making my choices, I found all five young writers willing to work with me on revisions. Although I never met any of them, I feel like I know them through their fine work. To their credit, they did not blindly follow my editorial suggestions; they stood up for what was important to them in their stories and poems. The writing, in each case, is wise and written well beyond their years.

These young women explore familial relationships and the complex landscape of memory. They offer us a touching account of a father and his teenage daughter (“We Will Read to You”), a luscious and timely poem about summer fruit (“Strawberry Party”), a young girl's surprising memory of an evening spent with a favorite uncle (“A Young Night”), an interaction with a very alive ocean (“Beach Wanderer”) and a wonderful story about art, innate talent and sisters (“Light and Dark”). These young voices are all extraordinary and we are proud to include them in our community of VoiceCatcher authors.

Donna Prinzmetal
Young Voices Editor

Poetry Rich, strong, poignant, humorous and inspiring. We’ve caught twenty never-before-published poems by sixteen unique voices.		Prose Seven talented women search for themselves in their bodies, their family, themselves.		Artwork Established dynamos and aspiring voices add colorful visions to our third issue.		Young Voices Language leaps off the page in the poetry and prose of five young authors who delight in sensory detail.		Contributors Meet the authors and artists who make this Summer 2013 edition a rich, varied and engaging experience.

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS POETRY         Abandoned Church by Tanya Jarvik         Commencement by Kelly Running         Depoe Bay by Wendy Thompson         Directive by Cristina White         Hawk Moth by Wendy Thompson         How to Recycle Love Letters by Jennifer Dorner         I Swapped a '74 Mustang for This by Jennifer Fulford         Polaroid of My Mother by Cindy Stewart-Rinier         Lover, Molester, and Maidens (Haibun) by Margaret Chula         Savory by Pat Phillips West         Seascape by Marjorie Power         Suspended by Grace Kuhns         The Hand-Off by Pattie Palmer-Baker         The Ride by Linda Ferguson         The Ticking Shirt by Tricia Knoll         Three Facts about Sperm by Ursula Whitcher         Three True Stories by Penelope Scambly Schott         Today at the Library by Pat Phillips West         Trapped Birds by Grace Kuhns         You, who will be alive and reading after I'm gone by Penelope Scambly Schott PROSE         After the World Ends by Kait Heacock         Something Permanent by Ashley-Renée Cribbins         Your Hand at Your Throat by Karen Guth         Black Sharpie by Anne Gudger         Diagnosis by Helen Sinoradzki         For He's a Jolly Good Fellow by Laura Stanfill         Breathing Underwater by Valerie Wagner ART         Unity by Anne John         Rearguard by Anne John         Speculation by Anne John         Wire by Jocelyn White         Taitian Trio by Nani Chesire         Catch Your Breath by Nani Chesire YOUNG VOICES         We Will Read to You by Rebecca Cleveland-Stout         Strawberry Party by Natalie Lerner         A Young Night by Clara Beaumont         Beach Wanderer by Isabella Waldron         Light and Dark by Colette Au CONTRIBUTORS