Current Issue: Winter 2016

Letter from the Managing Editor

“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves
as fiercely as if they had never happened before.”
– Willa Cather

“I feel there is something unexplored about woman that only a woman can explore.”
– Georgia O'Keeffe

Welcome to the eighth issue of VoiceCatcher: a journal of women’s voices & visions. For ten years, VoiceCatcher has celebrated the stories, poems and artwork of women in the Portland-Vancouver metro area through print and online journals, workshops, readings and other events. More than a literary journal, VoiceCatcher is a true community of women.

In this eighth online issue, you’ll find a diverse array of voices sharing in the human stories common to us all, yet bringing new perspectives and insight to that experience, as only women writers and artists can.

This is an issue with both a local and a global focus. From the unique sense of place in Wendy Thompson’s "Gradations of Gray" and in Elizabeth Stoessl’s "Canning Factory Road" to the work of featured artist, Clare Carpenter, we see the familiar landscape of the Pacific Northwest in all her wintertime glory. But farther afield, a young teacher discovers the aftermath of war in Pam Bejerano’s novel excerpt, "A Nicaraguan Spring," while first time Young Voices contributor Raimy Khalife Hamdan witnesses the reality of immigration and displacement in her nonfiction piece, "Submerged."

Whether encountering the world outside their door or the world 5,000 miles away, the voices in this issue grapple with universal questions about the human condition. How do we connect with others? When should we stay and when should we go? If we go, how far afield must we travel in search of ourselves? And finally, how do we define self in a world equally filled with beauty and with heartache?

As writers and artists, we believe that the answer to these questions lies in the arts. Please join me in celebrating the thirty-five women in this issue who dare to ask and answer the difficult questions and in doing so, make important works that enrich us all.

Yours in the arts,

Tiah Lindner Raphael
Managing Editor

Poetry Celebrating nature, home and the cycles of life – twenty poets light the winter night.		Prose Six stories use magic to explore loss, grief and healing.		Artwork With imagery of flora and fauna, four artists animate the winter landscape.		Young Voices Five young women dig deep to each speak their individual truth .		Contributors From emerging to established writers – meet the women behind our eighth issue’s voices and visions.

LETTER FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR POETRY         Northwest Equinox by Kris Demien         Gradations of Gray by Wendy Thompson         With Gladness by Sara Graves         Home by Leora Marialicia González         For a Grade School Classmate by Joan Maiers         Canning Factory Road by Elizabeth Stoessl         To Make a Prairie by Carolyn Martin         At Home by Suzy Harris         Family Disagreement by Tricia Knoll         The Bullfrogs by Katherine Boyer         Cows by Rebecca Jamieson         Lesson by Stacey Vallas         Stardust by Erin Iwata         Perspective by Carolyn Martin         Lacrosse Season by Elizabeth Harlan-Ferlo         The Tangled Path by Suzanne LaGrande         Matched Set by Tanya Jarvik         False Bus Stop by Elizabeth Harlan-Ferlo         Last Visit by Erin Iwata         October Walk with My Mother by Ann Sinclair         First Rothko Exercise by Elizabeth McLagan         Fractions by Susan Blackaby         Tea by Melineh Yemenidjian         Return by Stacey Vallas PROSE         Scarab Man by Cynthia McGean         Planetary Influences by Alida Thacher         Bone of the Past by Burky Achilles         Teachings: A Buddhist Ghost Story by Ann Sihler         Wrangler by Desiree Wright         A Nicaraguan Spring by Pamela Russell Bejerano FEATURED ART         Into the Wonder by Annamieka Hopps Davidson         Deep Blue Meditation by Annamieka Hopps Davidson         Weave Me Into the Sea by Annamieka Hopps Davidson         Crassula 2 by Alison Foshee         Crassula 5 by Alison Foshee         Crassula 6 by Alison Foshee         Warm Autumn by Tamar Hammer         Girl with Conch by Tamar Hammer         With Her Dog by Tamar Hammer YOUNG VOICES         Love Beyond Loss by Isabel Lickey         Submerged by Raimy Khalife Hamdan         Which Way? by Alli Rodenbaugh         To Autumn by Sara Barkouli         The Storm by Elie Doubleday CONTRIBUTORS