About
Fall 2011 Edition
The fall edition of Menacing Hedge is graced with the work of fifteen brilliant writers, one talented young photographer and the artwork of an acclaimed pop surrealist. Wallwork offers up a mouth-watering story of high society cannibals and their shopping dilemmas. Thompson brings a series of research-based poems shining an unblinking eye on the victims of Ted Bundy followed by the chilling Anonymous poem. Conroy explores the physicality of bodies, the making and unmaking of monsters, and the upkeep of what is one part awful and one part necessary. Poyner takes us to an alternative universe filled with the delightful but somewhat treacherous creatures, the Orikind. Reale's piece, Learn(ed), describes the subtleties of an abusive relationship and its precarious underpinnings. Budden's work, the Jolly Butcher's Lament, enters into the land of magical realism where the chief creature in a painting enters a pub and creates well-deserved mayhem. Doreski's poems explore the power of place, underground houses, haunted spaces, and a village collapsed.
Dickinson presents an interview with the actress Jean Seberg, which manages to span her lifetime – her role as Joan of Arc, her time in Paris, and her Midwest beginnings – with imagery and memories so searing, it feels as if Dickinson is channeling Seberg's very spirit. Altman takes us from the Qing Dynasty and a savvy snuffbox and unwise concubine, to a monstrous man whose actions resonate in modern Chinatowns, and then to the blue gas of God, with images that flex and strain seeking to escape the page. Bashaar transports the reader to uncertain corners of places: love, diners, and poetry readings in restrooms, her voice crashing through everything, like mad birds through glass. Rainwater-Lites embarks into poverty, the concrete minutiæ of everyday life, transcending the mundane to find beauty in its particular painfulness, while also exploring the connectivity between unlikely individuals. Connell's Metropolitan Hotel describes one man's journey from boredom to violent enlightenment, through a series of bizarre encounters with a mysterious woman.
Randall and Shapiro have borrowed old seventies diagrams from the Exploratorium and added their own comments, creating images and words that compel the reader to re-explore formal conventional wisdoms and ideas of human relationships. Dexter's piece, The Nudist Cover-up, takes us from a child's discovery of his teacher's floating corpse to a strange ritualistic covering of the same child's body with sand. Bennett's images are filled with poems and stories, from a shadow on a trailer to chilled red feet over wire. Grindley puts us in the feet of The God of Minor Inconvenience, whose power may be limited but whose repercussions are vast, reminding the reader of how even the smallest of inconveniences can ultimately render devastation. Finally, Scott Musgrove conjures and paints imaginary beasts, which live and breathe and leap from the page, given pulse and breath and blood.
This edition was produced by:
Kelly Boyker: Poetry editor
Martha Vallely: Technical editor and proofreader
Gio Guillemette: Technical director and paperwork dealer-wither
Dickens: Chief of paperwork interference and specialist in rendering all untethered small objects to the Taking Things Place, wherever that is.
Menacing Hedge
Menacing Hedge is a quarterly journal of poetry, fiction and artwork, which is committed to fostering access to emerging and experimental poetry and prose. Ongoing publication is scheduled for the first weeks of July, October, January, and April. Menacing Hedge will carefully archive all its editions to ensure that an author's/artist's work will remain on the web for many, many years to come. Regrettably, Menacing Hedge cannot pay its contributors at this time.
Menacing Hedge accepts only original unpublished literary work; however, it will consider literary work on a case-by-case basis if it has appeared only in print but never on the web. In the case of art and photography, it is acceptable if the piece has appeared on the artist's website or elsewhere.
Upon acceptance of a literary piece, Menacing Hedge obtains first publishing rights and then all rights revert to the author. Menacing Hedge requests that if a published piece is later published elsewhere, that Menacing Hedge will be credited with first publication. Also, Menacing Hedge reserves the right to publish the piece in print.
Scary Bush
If we decide to accept your work, we will also invite you to submit one of your most cringeworthy efforts from the misty past to Menacing Hedge's evil twin, Scary Bush. Please see the Scary Bush page for examples.