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BLACK BEAR REVIEW: AN ECOLOGY OF READING AND WRITING

Almeda Glenn Miller

The calibre of these offerings from Black Bear Review is a clear indication that reading and
writing are alive and well in the Kootenays. In a recent exercise, my Students came up with

a list of what makes an engaging Story, and at the end of the liSt was, “a good reader”. In the
discussion of dialogue, and all the typical assignations of how it reveals character, advances
the Story, and controls the pace, another Student added “what about the dialogue between the
writer and the reader”? This collection is a clear example of when you, our good readers, get
to converse with the Black Bear Review’s good writers. But our discussion didn’t Stop there,
because I can go on and on and on about what makes a good Story. We got to talk about
Texture and Atmophere and Voice and we came to underStand how voice reveals culture. All
of these submissions in Black Bear Review are only a partial reveal of Kootenay culture and we
hope to inspire good readers and good writers in the future to leave their scat on our pages so
we Can continue to sniff around this conversation.

In this inaugural print edition a collaboration between Creative Writing and Digital
Arts - we have “Scariel Chao”’s Roller Derby essay about a woman who feels the derby-girl
vibe of the Kootenays and joins the siSterhood of Derby with the Dam City Rollers. Scariel
Stares into the face of derby danger and is welcomed with open arms into a culture she could
have never imagined possible with her big city ways. It’s a feel- good Story that ensures I
can walk into a derby-girl room and speak their language. I’ve been waiting for Corrine
Bundshchuh’s work and preSto “Wendy, Wilbur and the Water Truck”, pink parts and all, is
one of those long awaited narratives from the Shambhalla phenomenon that reveals culture
in all its crazy finery. Such surprising imagery. Shannon Stasyk’s essay “Fear of God” is a
bit of a departure and yet boldly explores queStions of faith and what it means to come close
to prayer. From superhero x-ray glasses in Whitney Rothwell’s “Value of a $” to both Erin
Simonen’s and Andrew Visser’s dark tales that scream horror, horror, horror, we are getting
the full spectrum of writing for the ‘good readers’ of the Kootenays. Fletcher Fitzgibbon and
Joel Zushman’s he said, he said in “Timeless, Too: An Exercise in the Mutual Inclusivity of
Perceived Recollection in Shared Experiences” is an excellent example of how experiments
don’t have to fail. Paulton Serring’s “Exercising Stream of Consciousness” harkens back to a
writing tradition that has influenced many great writers we read today. Finally, what a lovely
collection of exceptional poets we have in the Kootenays. Katie Sawyer’s poem “Backyard
Haibun” rings exotically true to the local and leaves me hungering for honeysuckle. Elizabeth
Cunningham’s predilection for the sound and feel of words makes her poem “Peregrine”
rattle on the page. Dylan Lachelt’s “Vehophobia” veers along the edges of comfort and Stalls
us with her breaks. Slay me in Giofu’s “Sadist Haiku” and let me “luSt for truth...unsated” in
Pengelly’s “Printed Word”. All of these writers in one issue offer great promise for the Black
Bear Review and we, the Bears, thank you for your contributions. So read on and dream up a
way to leave your paw prints in the upcoming issues.