slow leaving a goodbye to things

I'm terribly sad, chickadees. At 87, Jose Saramago has died. Every so often you find an author who transports you entirely - who you can barely imagine except as a kind of intuitive magician or unreal character themselves - someone whose mind you might get lost in were they not so masterfully guiding you along. Jose Saramago was one of those authors. I first read Blindness in high school, and immediately began to slowly collect his works, reading each voraciously, slowing as I neared each ending, wanted each to never end. A true storyteller, a true inventor & artist, a humanitarian. I don't think I can write an accurate description of just how much he means to me. His newest book, "The Elephant's Journey," will be published in September - his last gift to us. Thoughts on Saramago's death here. And here, Saramago's Nobel Lecture from 1998. Rest in peace, dear Saramago.

Over at Gigantic Sequins, we are just finishing up our 2.2 reading period, which ends officially on June 30th. A few days ago I was talking to Kim, our editor-in-chief, about exactly what it is Gigantic Sequins is looking for, and our conversation planted in my head this idea of an aesthetic-based community. Perhaps this description leads towards sounding superficial, but what Kim had expressed was that she wasn't simply interested in publishing poets writing poetry, and fiction writers writing fiction, but the writing of artists & musicians & all sorts of creative people. This desire to publish more expansively, not just as a literary journal, but as a journal of arts & culture, is what sets Gigantic Sequins apart from the clambering crowd of lit mags - basically, we're invested in publishing any sort of excellent & thoughtful writing, from classical verse to essays on film. And you still have until June 30th to submit!

I am slow in the world today, brimming with endings and beginnings.....