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CLOUDY Temp: 58 °F Wind: WNW at 7 mph Saturday, June 1, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend May 30, 2002 SOU releases 21st annual West Wind Review By AYISHA YAHYA Mail Tribune ASHLAND — The slender book may deceive you about the weight of its contents. Beyond the simple cover, its pages are graced with the creations of award-winning writers and poets from around the nation. Southern Oregon University has released the 21st edition of the West Wind Review. This anthology of poetry and fiction is published each year by SOU students. DottieLou Taylor, a senior majoring in English, was the student editor-in-chief. "I’m really excited to be the editor," she said. "It’s a wonderful book." Taylor worked with 20 other students for several months sifting through about 750 poems and 100 pieces of fiction to select the book’s final 59 poems and six short stories. Of the 52 writers featured in the book, three are SOU students, two are former students and one is an SOU professor. Writers also include a Pulitzer Prize nominee, three Pushcart Prize nominees, an Oregon Book Award winner, a National Writer’s Union award winner and a Red Rock Poetry winner. Entries were received from as far as Switzerland and Spain. Taylor said all works were chosen anonymously; members of the selection committee did not know whose work they were reading. "It’s the best way to do it because they (the pieces) are chosen for their own merit," Taylor said. The committee chose creative pieces that reflected all levels of the human experience and the commonalities between people, Taylor said. Subjects touched on childhood, family, love, discovery, death and the elements of the bittersweet journey called life. "Even people who don’t like poetry are buying it for the fiction and they’re falling in love with the poetry," Taylor said. Adam O’Connor Rodriguez is one of the students whose work appears in the anthology. An English major originally from Michigan, Rodriguez said he has been writing since he was 14. His short story "Lake Superior" is about unrequited love, he said. "I’m happy about it," he said. "It’s my first publication since I came to Oregon." His work also has been published in Michigan publications. Megan Turner and Will Hardman are the other two students featured in the review. Taylor said that each year, the students strive to make the anthology even better than the last. It is a labor of love, she said, because although the students get class credit, they are not paid and they spend hours analyzing the pieces. "It’s a passion. We do it for the love of it," Taylor said. Funding for the book’s production is provided by the school. Craig Wright, an assistant English professor and one of West Wind Review’s advisers, said in recent years, the anthology has received attention in writing circles nationwide. "We’re a place where real good writers speak out," he said. Wright is himself an acclaimed writer in the region, and many of the students on staff have taken his writing classes. He said he is especially proud the West Wind Review is a student-run venture. Wright said he appreciated the students’ enthusiasm and willingness to critically choose what is best for the book, not just their favorite pieces. "I feel the learning experience associated with this is what people are after," Wright said. The students learn the intricacies of story selection, working under deadlines and book publishing. The book is $12 and will be available at the SOU Bookstore, Bloomsbury Books in Ashland and Medford’s Barnes & Noble Booksellers. People can submit their work for next year’s edition until Nov. 20, 2002. Submission guidelines are available on the English department’s Web site at http://www.sou.edu/english/new/ . Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S