Dappled Things is back... for the moment

The newest issue is finally online. You can read one of Steven Milne's poems here (I gushed about him back in November, remember?). His other poems are also wonderful, although you can only read them in the print magazine. I was also impressed by "Poem with a line from the Desert Fathers" (Sabrina Vourvoulias), which is a sinewy, courageous meditation on this astonishing little story. The way she puts the key line is, "Why not become fire?" There is also a nicely-done critical essay on the novelist J.F. Powers, and some book reviews that may interest you.

We are currently putting the finishing touches on the Christmas issue, which will be a celebration of DT's fifth birthday, and hopefully the new website will be ready by then. Despite this good news, though, Dappled Things has been suffering in this economy (as have we all), and donations have slowed down so much that the journal is in danger of folding in the next year. If you feel so moved, please send DT a Christmas present via PayPal, or send a check here:

Dappled Things Magazine
2876 S. Abingdon Street, C-2
Arlington, VA 22206

Dappled Things is the only Catholic litmag in English today. We fill a niche, we meet a need... but there's more to it that: Dappled Things has drawn on some of the liveliest circles of young Catholic writers and given them a forum for their most purely imaginative efforts. Paper architecture, dystopian fiction, holy/unholy sonnets - all of this is leading somewhere, and I want Dappled Things to keep taking me there.

I have copied Bernie's message for anyone who didn't get it through email:

Dear Friends of Dappled Things,

As many of you will have noticed, there has been a long delay in releasing the Mary, Queen of Angels 2010 edition online. The reason is that we have a brand new website in the works and were aiming at releasing that edition once the site was ready. So the good news is that the issue is now online. The bad news (no, not the news mentioned in the subject line, read further for that) is that the new website has given us more trouble than we expected, so we are publishing this issue still under the old format, hoping to have the Christmas edition up in just a few weeks to inaugurate the new design.

Let me add that the Mary, Queen of Angels edition is truly an exceptional one. Here's what one reader wrote to us after receiving the print edition of it: "I have to say this issue is really something else . . . . 'After' is . . . one of the best [poems] (DT or otherwise) that I've ever read . . . . If DT isn't on everyone's radar, the world is blind." Click here to read the poem online.

In this issue you will also find:

* The dramatic, haunting photographs of Rick Westcott;
* A wonderful reconsideration of the unjustly forgotten Catholic novelist J.F. Powers;
* "I've, like, got to get there, like, now" a delightful rant by the inimitable Eleanor Bourg Donlon on language, unintelligibility, and irreverence;
* Reviews of award-winning graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang's new book of stories, The Eternal Smile; and of House of Words by Jonathan Potter, a beautiful book of poems which is the first title from Korrektiv Press, a promising new venture by the writers of Korrektiv.org;
* "Achilleus Now," an insightful feature essay by Robert T. Miller on his experience teaching great books and how old books still matter to young students;
* Great new stories and poems that you can only enjoy as a subscriber to our marvelous print edition.

Please stop by the site to enjoy all of this wonderful new work. And if you like what you see, please consider making a donation to Dappled Things. Despite the enthusiastic messages that we regularly receive about the magazine, the response to our just-launched annual fundraising appeal has been dismayingly slow. Unless this picks up soon, Dappled Things will have to close down shop in the new year (this is the bad news from the subject line). As the only Catholic literary magazine in English that is currently in print, we think this would be a loss to our culture and the Church. If you agree, please don't let this happen. Stop by the website today and make your secure donation by credit card via PayPal. Or you can send a check, payable to Dappled Things Magazine, to the following address:

2876 S. Abingdon Street, C-2
Arlington, VA 22206

Don't assume that someone else will do it. Please contribute today as you are able.

Wishing you a lovely Gaudete Sunday,

Bernardo Aparicio Garcia
President, Dappled Things