The Maynard
Spring 2018

Introduction

Happy National Poetry Month to you, dear reader!

Like many other organizations during the pandemic, The Maynard is undergoing a transition. In fact, it has probably been underway for some time. The “aha!” moment occurred a few months back, when co-founder and on-and-off editor/editorial board member Nicholas Hauck moved on following the publication of the Fall 2020 issue. Even if it was the right action for Nick, it’s still a loss for The Maynard and staff.

There has been much loss for all of us—precious lives, dear colleagues, long friendships, rewarding routines, and ways of life. Ponder this for moment and the wave of overwhelm swells, mounts, and threatens. Our response at The Maynard has been and is to defy the threat, hold our course, stay in the flow of our production schedule, maintain conversation, and support the poets who’ve offered us their work and our extended community of readers, writers, and artists.

Maybe that’s why publishing this issue of The Maynard feels momentous, even miraculous. In any case, we’re delighted to welcome you to the Spring 2021 issue of The Maynard !

To arrive at The Maynard’s customary selection of 24 poets, editor Ram Randhawa and I read 232 submissions/1200 poems in monthly batches, then met to discuss the poems that stuck in our brains, swirled in our ears, and clung to our ribs. Over the course of our four meetings of two and a half hours each, I was struck by how in synch our selections were. That made our conversations about why “almost, but not quite” and “yes!” rich and enlivening. I especially cherished the moment Ram brought forth a poem—“The Guilt of Not Wanting” by Ashley Prince—I had missed. It exemplifies why we are committed to truly read and give ourselves to the poems entrusted to us. Taking the time to deeply read and discuss individual poems allows the issue to build itself by way of dynamic conversation and collective consciousness. Via whatever collective and mysterious forces the issue came together, it was smooth sailing. At least it was until we needed help filling our final three spots. That’s when we called in our fabulous colleague, Colleen Webber, who with her good eyes and timing read through our shortlist of six poets. Et voilà! Nous sommes arrivés!

The Spring 2021 issue of The Maynard features 24 poets, 32 poems, and 28 voice recordings.

The poets: Ronna Bloom · Heather Bourbeau · Robyn Bowes · Michael Buckius · Nathan Curnow · Adam Day · Melissa Eleftherion · Daimys Ester García · Samantha Jones · DS Maolalai · Dawn Macdonald · Libby Maxey · Jordan Mounteer · Elisabeth Murawski · Sergio A. Ortiz · Natasha Pepperl · Ashley Prince · James Reil · Lisa Richter · Lauren Turner · L M Schmidt · Sunni Brown Wilkinson · Elana Wolff · Aysegul Yildirim

Welcome back poets: Heather Bourbeau · Nathan Curnow · Adam Day · Sergio A. Ortiz · Lauren Turner · Elana Wolff

The 32 poems of the Spring 2021 issue, dear reader, may they skip “a stone across the pond” (from “Pit” by Dawn Macdonald) of your mind; go six, seven, eight times, then sink to a silt. May these poems be a stone “in the road / real and undisguised” that “makes ... no apology” (from “Revelation on Baptist Hill” by Libby Maxey). May you take in each poem with your senses as you “eat one serving of fruit in the time / a nymph hatches from egg emerges” (from “only temporary” by Robyn Bowes).

May you view the Spring 2021 issue cover Two Oranges with Red Centres by poet and artist Jan Conn. Her original painting offers an intense, distressed, and yet empowered palette to accompany and complement the poems. To learn more about Jan Conn’s process of creating the cover art, click on the title below the thumbnail image above.

Read the poems in the Spring issue off the page. And, press the little speaker in the upper right corner of the page to let the poets read to you!

Happy reading and listening!

From our homes to yours, we send you our very best wishes for your safety, health, and creativity,

Jami Macarty & Ram Randhawa, Editors
Colleen Webber, Editorial Intern
Spring 2021 issue | The Maynard