Spring Voices
by Barbara Westwood Diehl
How perfect is this: We’re including audio with our contributors’ work for the first time at the suggestion of—a Hollywood voiceover artist. When we accepted his Bill Ratner’s work for this issue, he offered to provide an audio file; our webmaster was happy to provide his technical know-how. Bill Ratner is the voice of Flint on G.I. Joe, Robot Chicken, and Family Guy, and the voice on H&R Block, Budweiser, and V8 commercials, as well as the voice for a number of movie trailers. He is also a master storyteller. In our spring 2013 issue, he shares his essay “Of This Earth.” His voice may sound familiar. I think it’s wonderful, and I hope you enjoy listening to his story of taking his in-laws’ ashes to Paris as much as I did.
We are very pleased to share wonderful creative nonfiction by Emily Hipchen. I think this one will take you by surprise—but I won’t spoil it.
Another first for us since we’ve gone online—a translation. Zackary Sholom Berger translates work by Yiddish poet Avrom Sutzkever. Audio files are included in both English and Yiddish.
Seven other fine poets are featured in the issue: Kenji C. Liu, Matthew Lippman, Sarah Brown Weitzman, Anne Barngrover, Skaidrite Stelzer, Leslie Jenike, and Rachel Linnea Brown.
We also have a great selection of stories, with quite a range of voices, from Matthew Neill Null, Kate Leary, Robert Earle, John Byrne, Margarite Landry, Brandon Jennings Davis, Emma Gabrielle Silverman, Rachel Lyon, and Daniel O’Malley.
All this work will be included in our 2013 print compilation, to be produced this summer. That will also include the work published in our Summer and Fall 2012 and Winter 2013 issues.
Enjoy.