LETTER FROM THE EDITOR v3.1
by Carter Maddox
Welcome to Words Work v3.1, the Texas State Writing Center’s literacy journal. Notice that word: literacy. Most academically hosted journals call themselves “literary,” and most of those journals pride themselves in publishing only what Salman Rushdie calls creative writingese: stories and poems that are so polished and so similar they glisten like unified teeth in a soap opera. We see a problem with that philosophy of publishing. As a writing center-hosted project, Words Work applies Postmodern writing center theory to the literary journal model to create a journal that recognizes the value in all writing processes and products. We favor works from Texas State University students, faculty and staff that run counter to the usual, Modern, creative writingese mess.
A challenge to our writers: we like process. What we’ve published here now are the stories/poems/memoirs/etcetera that you sent to us. That is, your work is unedited, untouched. If you’ve changed your work since you submitted, send it on. We’ll show your revisions. We’ll show your process.
Literacy knows no boundaries; it differs from person to person, lifestyle to lifestyle, language to language. In this issue alone, we hear an African American voice, a shotboy who works at a gay bar, Iraq war veterans, a disabled woman in and out of her wheelchair, a Tucker Max-ish everyguy and more. Each has his/her own unique perspective; each has his/her own thumbprinted language. We hope you, audience, enjoy reading our writers’ works as much as we have.
//ww
A challenge to our writers: we like process. What we’ve published here now are the stories/poems/memoirs/etcetera that you sent to us. That is, your work is unedited, untouched. If you’ve changed your work since you submitted, send it on. We’ll show your revisions. We’ll show your process.
Literacy knows no boundaries; it differs from person to person, lifestyle to lifestyle, language to language. In this issue alone, we hear an African American voice, a shotboy who works at a gay bar, Iraq war veterans, a disabled woman in and out of her wheelchair, a Tucker Max-ish everyguy and more. Each has his/her own unique perspective; each has his/her own thumbprinted language. We hope you, audience, enjoy reading our writers’ works as much as we have.
//ww