Are You Embracing Risk? | The Weekly Atticus

A recap of the week at Atticus Review, along with some extras.

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Dear Friend,

(This week's letter introduction comes from Dorothy Bendel, Atticus Review's Nonfiction Editor.)

“Stay afraid, but do it anyway" ~Carrie Fisher

During the promotional tour for Lincoln in the Bardo, I had the chance to exchange a few words with George Saunders, Literary Hero™ and all-around stellar human being. I told him how excited I was to see he was announced as the keynote speaker for next year's AWP convention, the annual Lollapalooza* for writers desperate for book deals and human interaction.

*Okay, maybe I'm dating myself with the Lollapalooza thing (although - apparently, it's back?), but the general chaos and level of alcohol use apply, so I'm sticking with it.

I knew this wasn't George's first rodeo at AWP, and hardly his first headlining gig, which is probably why it came as a refreshingly honest surprise to hear him say of his upcoming appearance: "You know, I always get so nervous."

"He really said that?" a friend replied when I relayed this story (aka: when I was fangirling).

It got me thinking about how important it is to be honest about our journeys, how the fear and nervousness never really go away. Rather than seeing fear through the lens of self-doubt, we might see it as evidence that we are taking necessary risks. The breathlessness and sweat we experience when stepping up to the stage or pressing "submit" are not stop signs, but physical affirmations of commitment.

Exhibit A: David Bowie was stricken with severe bouts of stage fright throughout his entire career. David-effing-Bowie.

Exhibit B: National Treasure™ George Saunders still gets nervous in front of crowds of adoring, and most likely hungover writers who cling to his every word (like I cling to dated music festival analogies.)

The writers who submit to Atticus Review know this fear too, but they show us bravery every day, and every day I am grateful. Read on and take inspiration. Know that this fear exists within all of us, and do the thing anyway.

We're glad you're here.

Dorothy Bendel, Nonfiction Editor

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FERAL TOWN by Adam Gustavson

DAVIS

BOOK REVIEW: MASSIVE CLEANSING FIRE BY DAVE HOUSLEY
Review by Eva Raczka

"Dave Housley’s newest collection, Massive Cleansing Fire, is that drug: hyper-aware and pulling at cultural phenomena through binges of Friends and the khaki-clad commercials of “Jake from State Farm.” How does one come to terms with the absurdity of it all? Housley’s solution is to set it all on fire."

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FICTION: SEX TRADE
By Christine Ma-Kellams

"Xiao showed up to the birthday party with Josiah in tow, carrying an excessively wrapped children’s book on how to draw trains. The man she was hoping to sleep with—a local artist named Peter—had invited her son and her, along with a few others from watercolor class, but none of the others showed up."

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POETRY: SOME THINGS ABOUT HOME
By Wendy Taylor Carlisle

"Home is where good fortune is two dogs
and a gracious plenty is three

where it’s whispered Agent Orange was spread
to clear the fields for cattle, where our worries
smolder in the pastures like a spring burn,

where..."

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CNF: THE QUESTION OF BEING ALONE
By Amelia Zahm

"I pick up her hand to feel her pulse. My fingers rest on the soft skin of her wrist, feeling for the radial artery. I close my eyes and listen to the mysterious rhythm of blood. With each beat, I feel her grief. It travels through the pads of my fingers, into my veins. It bounces off the chambers of my heart. I feel her loss like an echo. It reverberates, and there beside it, I find my own pain, hollow, dark, empty. I exhale and open a space for the two of us to rest together. Unique, but not. Lost, but not. Alone, but not."

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FROM AROUND THE INTERNET

In "What Bullets Do to Bodies" in HuffPost Highline, Jason Fagone suggests: "The gun debate would change in an instant if Americans witnessed the horrors that trauma surgeons confront every day." But would it? On the futility of gun violence... and writing.

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