Letter from the Editor. April
April 7th, 2010 by Olga Rosales
This month, the question of identity has come up on several occasions. Not just personal identity but Vetted Word’s identity. I’ve found it interesting because often what we do defines who we believe we are. What we do, in Vetted Word, defines us as community members, as poets, and as creative writers. But I have to ask, is that who we are?
What are we when we’re not focusing energy on literary art? Parents, young professionals, single in the city, or just plain old raving lunatics, my point is we all wear different hats and because of that personal identity comes in all shades of gray.
For instance, does what I do as Editor in Chief of Vetted Word, define who I am? Am I an athlete, or just a thrill seeking romantic? Does what I do as a family member (sister to five females) define who I am? What does that mean for my role as a daughter? Am I a poet because I write poetry, or am I poet because I love other poets? Truth: I am all of the above. All of these qualities are part of me.
These questions lead to more questions about how we think of ourselves; questions I’ve leave for another day.
In the next couple of months, Vetted Word will be celebrating 1 year of vetting questions like these. We’ll be meeting Wednesday April 7th at Shine Nightclub to vet the poetry of Baruch Porras-Hernandez. Join us for this extraordinary visual journey.
We’re also branching out of San Francisco and hosting our first open mic in Livermore on April 10th! Bring your guitar, your poems, or drunken stories from your college days! We’d love to have you!
And on May 5th, we’ll be having our One Year Anniversary at Project One. Please consider this letter a personal invitation to join us in this celebration. If you’ve never been to our events, or if you’ve been to every single one, your support would mean the world to us.
What are my hopes throughout the next month? My hopes are to find happy mediums of identity for both Vetted Word and for myself. I realize that although finding like minded individuals who appreciate art is community (and we are overjoyed to celebrate them), we are also each uniquely inspiring individuals in and of ourselves. My hope for the next month is to vet your individuality for the good of our community. So contribute, participate, and vet with us.
Cheers!
