Letter from the Editors
Welcome Readers,
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To the 15th volume of Spirit Lake Review. It is the culmination of countless Wednesday nights spent in debate and deliberation. The result of hours spent reading and writing. We have put our hearts, souls, tears, laughter and fears into this magazine. We have built a community and become close in just this one semester.
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The Editors this year would like to extend our thanks to, first and foremost, Kelly Dwyer. Without her, Spirit Lake Review would not have stood the test of time and reached its 15-year anniversary. Her wealth of knowledge allows for the magazine to run smoothly, even when she takes her hands off the wheel and lets students create the magazine they want.
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Additionally, we want to thank SGA for helping fund the magazine, as well as Ed Janairo, Campus Administrator, for his support of the magazine, and Publications Club, for their support. We want to thank Charlie, Lisa and the entire custodial staff here at UW - Baraboo/Sauk County for staying late every Wednesday to help clean up after us.
Finally, we want to thank you, our reader. The goal of this class is to help cultivate a community of Wisconsin writers, artists, and photographers and spread their wonderful works. Thanks to you, we can say we have achieved our goal.
Sincerely,
the editors of Spirit Lake Review volume 15
Letter from the Instructor
A note from the instructor:
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15 years ago I asked then Dean Brophy if there was a literary magazine on campus. “No,” he said, “but you can start one.” So we did, “we” being another professor and I and four students, one of whom—Sherman Funmaker—makes his way into these pages again as a poet. Back then, we barely had enough submissions to fill 40 pages of newsprint. Now, we could easily fill twice our outstanding 80 glossy pages with quality submissions of literature and art. Thanks to all of you writers, photographers, and artists who have contributed: without you, the beautiful magazine you're holding in your hands (or reading online) wouldn't exist.
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There's another group of people who are crucial to the magazine's existence and its success, and that's the college and continuing Ed students take the class, English 205: Literary Magazine. This semester’s group included both newbies and veterans, all of whom were passionate, dedicated, committed, interested, and a lot of fun to hang out with on a Wednesday night and create a stellar magazine with. Thank you.
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And finally, yes, thank you to our readers. We hope you enjoy the magazine. And if you want to be a part of next year's issue, sign up for English 205, and/or submit your work to spiritlakeboou@gmail.com.
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Kelly Dwyer, Senior Lecturer, English & Creative Writing