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From the Guest-Editor Just over a half a century ago, my grandmother,
Delphine Auchly, cut the ribbon and officially opened Natural Bridge Road
as the four-lane thoroughfare it is now, moving from the intersection
of N. Florissant Road and heading west. That honor was hers because my
grandfather, Eugene Auchly, was the mayor of Normandy at the time. In
the official photo Grandma is smiling, probably because she is wearing
one of her many new hats, this one a puffy sort of helmet, tilted slightly
forward and to the side. About a decade later, the newest campus of the
University of Missouri was located on Natural Bridge Road. And I am now
on the editorial board for Natural Bridge, the literary journal published by the University of
Missouri. More than that, I have just had the honor of serving as guest
editor for that journal. OK, there is real no connection between my grandmother’s
ribbon cutting and my editing, but the coincidence is one I like, and
I just wanted a chance to talk about it. We didn’t have a theme for this issue of Natural Bridge number 11, but we did put out a special call for the short story, largely because I and the advanced MFA students who made up the class that selected the work (fall, 03) like short stories. Last July and August, the mail brought us some amazing short stories and some amazing poems as well. And though we didn’t have a theme, a few emerged, and these themes, these subjects, are evident in the work in Natural Bridge number 11. They are the way we believe our own lies, the hope we try for, the triumph found in survival, the strength of our need to connect to others, and the depth of our loneliness. Perhaps these themes are contained within all good literature, or perhaps there is something in the beginning of the 21st century that brings them to the fore. I won’t cite specific stories or poems, for you haven’t read them, so my naming them would be meaningless. I will say, though, that as you read through this book, you will encounter stories and poems that are comic, lighthearted, serious, painfully sad, and frightening. Of course, some pieces are a few of these at once. The assistant editors—Adam, Kelly, Sheri, Ryan, Brad, Serena, Beth, Amanda, Nancy, David, and Jason—and I worked tirelessly on Natural Bridge number 11 to produce a book that would entertain, interest, and move you. And as we did so, we were like the fiddle maker on our cover: delighting in art, finding joy in creation. —Mary Troy |
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