“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves
as fiercely as if they had never happened before.”
– Willa Cather
“I feel there is something unexplored about woman that only a woman can explore.”
– Georgia O’Keeffe
Welcome to the eighth issue of VoiceCatcher: a journal of women’s voices & visions. For ten years, VoiceCatcher has celebrated the stories, poems and artwork of women in the Portland-Vancouver metro area through print and online journals, workshops, readings and other events. More than a literary journal, VoiceCatcher is a true community of women.
In this eighth online issue, you’ll find a diverse array of voices sharing in the human stories common to us all, yet bringing new perspectives and insight to that experience, as only women writers and artists can.
This is an issue with both a local and a global focus. From the unique sense of place in Wendy Thompson’s “Gradations of Gray” and in Elizabeth Stoessl’s “Canning Factory Road” to the work of featured artist, Clare Carpenter, we see the familiar landscape of the Pacific Northwest in all her wintertime glory. But farther afield, a young teacher discovers the aftermath of war in Pam Bejerano’s novel excerpt, “A Nicaraguan Spring,” while first time Young Voices contributor Raimy Khalife Hamdan witnesses the reality of immigration and displacement in her nonfiction piece, “Submerged.”
Whether encountering the world outside their door or the world 5,000 miles away, the voices in this issue grapple with universal questions about the human condition. How do we connect with others? When should we stay and when should we go? If we go, how far afield must we travel in search of ourselves? And finally, how do we define self in a world equally filled with beauty and with heartache?
As writers and artists, we believe that the answer to these questions lies in the arts. Please join me in celebrating the thirty-five women in this issue who dare to ask and answer the difficult questions and in doing so, make important works that enrich us all.
Yours in the arts,
Tiah Lindner Raphael
Managing Editor