Policies, Reflections on Water

by Sue Matheson

volume 1, number 2

Welcome to Reflections On Water. I can’t believe that it is already March 1^st, we’re on-line again, and the space that we had available for our June issue is already full. Lynda is in the planning stages of ROW’s fourth issue which will be released in September 2000.

Who woulda thunk it?

Who would have thought that the work submitted would have been of such a high calibre? In northern BC, writers, poets, painters, sculptors, and photographers obviously know what they’re about. All that was needed was an outlet for their talents. One day I hope we can get the funding to pay them for their work -- and maybe even publish a paper version of ROW that they, and their audience, can put on their shelves or give to their children.

In the BC Arts Council’s 1999 Newsletter, Chairperson Ann Mortifee puts forward the idea that there is a revitalization taking place in the arts. Judging by the overwhelming response ROW has received, I think Mortifee is absolutely correct about this revitalization. We hope to help foster this growth in the arts and encourage its grassroots nature.

People who are interested in submitting material to the journal, keep asking us what ROW’s guidelines are. We keep answering that anything is acceptable as long as it is art, as long as it is relevant, as long as it is good. If these guidelines sound rather vague to you, they are meant to be.

Lynda and I agreed when ROW was first imagined that the policy of the journal should be one of inclusion rather than exclusion: selection would be made in terms of quality, pure and simple. Kiddie lit, fantasy, science fiction, detective stories, ballads, sonnets, language poetry, social realism, free verse, photography, post modern narratives, expressionism, dada, and the limerick -- to mention just a few modes --would find themselves on an even playing field.

So, I’m afraid we have no manifesto to publish that announces an avant garde stance. We are not beret-clad, cappucino-brandishing revolutionaries storming the barricades of the Old Guard to announce a new school of thinking to the world. We’re not even interested in taking over art councils or your computer screens. ROW is simply here to give artists, and whenever possible emerging artists, a forum for their work. It is a chance to see what these artists are doing -- and how well they do it.


							by Sue Matheson volume 1, number 2 Welcome to Reflections On Water. I can’t believe that it is already March 1^st, we’re on-line again, and the space that we had available for our June issue is already full. Lynda is in the planning stages of ROW’s fourth issue which will be released in September 2000. Who woulda thunk it? Who would have thought that the work submitted would have been of such a high calibre? In northern BC, writers, poets, painters, sculptors, and photographers obviously know what they’re about. All that was needed was an outlet for their talents. One day I hope we can get the funding to pay them for their work -- and maybe even publish a paper version of ROW that they, and their audience, can put on their shelves or give to their children. In the BC Arts Council’s 1999 Newsletter, Chairperson Ann Mortifee puts forward the idea that there is a revitalization taking place in the arts. Judging by the overwhelming response ROW has received, I think Mortifee is absolutely correct about this revitalization. We hope to help foster this growth in the arts and encourage its grassroots nature. People who are interested in submitting material to the journal, keep asking us what ROW’s guidelines are. We keep answering that anything is acceptable as long as it is art, as long as it is relevant, as long as it is good. If these guidelines sound rather vague to you, they are meant to be. Lynda and I agreed when ROW was first imagined that the policy of the journal should be one of inclusion rather than exclusion: selection would be made in terms of quality, pure and simple. Kiddie lit, fantasy, science fiction, detective stories, ballads, sonnets, language poetry, social realism, free verse, photography, post modern narratives, expressionism, dada, and the limerick -- to mention just a few modes --would find themselves on an even playing field. So, I’m afraid we have no manifesto to publish that announces an avant garde stance. We are not beret-clad, cappucino-brandishing revolutionaries storming the barricades of the Old Guard to announce a new school of thinking to the world. We’re not even interested in taking over art councils or your computer screens. ROW is simply here to give artists, and whenever possible emerging artists, a forum for their work. It is a chance to see what these artists are doing -- and how well they do it.