Encircling

Postcards of drawings to describe the earth, planets, and measuring devices, from 17th and 18th century

As we pass the summer solstice, that time of year when the cycle starts again as the sun reaches its highest point, I think again about stone circles. This is apt, as the new issue of IMMINENT starts with ideas about circles and how people have expressed the natural world using circles for millennia. 

Stone circles that may have mapped the heavens, drawings of the movements of the planets and observations of the stars, circles that represent the seasonal cycles and spirals and circles that appear in natural forms, all these have influenced the forthcoming IMMINENT. A large circle connects the contributors too, who are all women that I have been meeting with over the last several months as part of an online eco-poetry group.

Members of the group are based in the United States, England, Canada and Panama. We share our work in progress in a circle of generosity and mutual support, and the exchanges are always exciting, enlightening and innovative. I love the work of all involved and so it seemed imperative for us to make an issue of IMMINENT together.

Issue 9 circles around ideas about nature and how we relate to it. Mary Newell notices the roundness of a wound in a tree. Anna Reckin notes how she encircles spaces where she is honing in on local flora. Chris Turnbull instinctively builds subtle stone circles, and Jennifer Spector considers the movement of the elements stone, wood, water and air in their own migrations. My drawings are reflections on the circular nature of planets and star systems, related on earth by stone circles and devices we make to map the sky. Linda Russo circles around names and naming, then zooms right in to the macro-level of moss.

Issue 9 - circles is at the printers and can be pre-ordered for the usual price of £3 + p&p from my shop page. Thank you for supporting the issue and all the artists and writers who create it. 

I encourage you to check out recent work by some of the members:

Chris Turnbull's latest book cipher was published earlier this year by Beautiful Outlaw.

Jennifer Spector is the author of Hithe (Corbel Stone Press, UK 2021) and a recent publication "sand susurran shadow stone cros(sings): a video reflection of places of dwelling" in Chant de la Sirène: Journal of Poetics & the Hybrid Arts.

Linda Russo's new book the verdant is published by Middle Creek.