Off The Shelf by Doug Holder

Shirley Gerald Ware is the author of three published books, and the founder of Fresh! Literary Magazine based in Somerville. I talked with her on my Somerville Cable Access TV show “Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer.”

Doug Holder: Can you tell us a bit about your three books?
Shirley Gerald Ware: The first book was ‚ÄúThe Final Goodbye‚Äù based on the loss of my father at 10 years old. I was a little girl once with five brothers. I couldn’t understand the meaning of life and death. I wrote about how this young girl found her father dead in the woods of South Carolina. He was only 32 years old. My father’s death followed me all through adulthood, until I came to grips with it. I finally took control of my life after a lot of soul searching. ‚ÄúSomebody Too‚Äù is more like a novel. It tells the story of an alcoholic. It is based on my late brother’s life. He lost his life due to his addiction. The book is sad, but hopefully compelling. My third was a collection of ‚Äúkid‚Äù stories. It dealt with kids up to age 16. It concerns the pressure that’s put on kids these days. It gives you everyday accounts of what kids are faced with.

DH: You like to write for kids?
SG: Kids are amazing. It’s fascinating to see them grow and understand the world. I think kids are born into the world smart. They look around and figure out where they fit in. It’s fascinating to see them grow and understand the world.

DH: You have been publishing “Fresh! Literary Magazine” for 10 years now. It is both print and has an online presence. What gave you the inspiration to start a magazine?
SG: Jim Smith, the other founder and editor and I birthed the magazine in 1998. I started out publishing stories I wrote on the Internet on my web page. Soon people starting sending me their own stories. The first person that sent me a story was a retired veterinarian from the Midwest. He still writes for us. Fresh! Is worldwide. We publish authors from Germany, England, Israel …you name it. The magazine is a family magazine. Anyone should be able to pick it up and not be offended. We have a contest going-open to all writers.

DH: How often does it come out?
SG: Fresh! Comes out 4 times a year. We send it to local libraries, to the Mullins Library in South Carolina; we also send it to contributor’s local libraries.

DH: You are one of the blessed few literary magazines that break even, or even make a small profit. What’s your secret?
SG: No nonsense. I am very serious when it comes to the magazine.  You got to watch the costs. Make sure you know what you need in order to publish. We usually sell out our magazines.

DH: You got your Master’s in English Writing at Northeastern University. Any teachers that had a positive influence on you?
SG: I did. I remember people like David Grace, Joe De Roche, and others. They were all very serious. I really wasn’t into writing at first. I was a Psych major.

DH: So you bloomed as a writer at Northeastern?
SG: I did. I remember I had to write a screenplay for a class. I was working fulltime at John Hancock, and I felt overwhelmed. I was told I had to do the assignment. I stayed up a couple of nights working on it. I completed it and I got a book out of my experience.

DH: You champion the writing of teenagers, why?
SG: Money. (Laughs) Kids are very interesting. When I worked with abused kids we used to say: ‚ÄúWrite it down if you can’t say it.‚Äù Kids send messages to the world through their stories. It is amazing. I don’t think their messages are heard enough.

Lyrical
Somerville
edited by Doug Holder

Ah! To be a seal. Yes, a seal. Poet Ruth Kramer Baden makes a convincing case. 

NUEVO ANO

In the iron fist of winter my California son,
slung with camera, filters, long-range lenses drives me
south to where elephant seals heave their two-ton bodies
out of the surf sink their undulant rumps
into the southern sand and snooze before they breed.

Strewn among the dunes they’re lumps of clay
thrown wildly from a wheel without a potter
except for the occasional twitch of a flipper
the bellow of the alpha bull defending his harem.

Every Jill will have her bull, receive her Cyrano,
bear him pups with truffled faces
their trunks not long and svelte like an elephant’s
but splattered across their visages
like giant fungi, not flexible, not strong enough to lift
a load of teak, good for nothing unless they’re gods
like Ganesha, the Hindu man born with an elephant’s head.

Yes if I were a god, even a god gone slightly awry
this is where I’d come to lie in these tide pools
the surf sliding over my hide
the magnanimous sun warming my rump
my belly my bones until it is time and I slip
back into the Pacific, my son
on the shore and I riding the waves
blowing bubbles all the way to Japan even farther 
the sun nuzzling my shoulder
its golden shutter opening
until I see its lens.

           – Ruth Kramer Baden

To have your work considered for the Lyrical send it to:
Doug Holder, 25 School St.;Somerville,MA 02143
dougholder@post.harvard.edu

On Nov. 22, The Somerville News will present its sixth installment of its Writers Festival, featuring the best poets and writers in the greater Boston area. In past years writers like Tom Perrotta, Robert Pinsky, Alex Beam, Afaa Michael Weaver, Nick Flynn, David Godine, Sue Miller, Lan Samantha Chang, Andre Dubois III, and others have graced our stage. As always, there will be a recption to meet the writers, a book table and music. This year Pultizer Prize winning novelist Junot Diaz, Steve Almond, as well as poets Afaa Michael Weaver, (2008 Pushcart Prize Winner) Dan Tobin, Meg Kearney, and Ifeanyi Menkiti, as well as others, will be featured readers. Tickets available soon! For info visit: http://somervillenewswritersfestival.com