journal

The Scholar and Feminist Online, Issue 8.3 (Polyphonic Feminisms: Acting in Concert)

brittany — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:00:00 +0000

In hindsight, I probably should have waited to read all of the articles in this issue of Barnard Center for Research on Women’s The Scholar and Feminist Online journal, “Polyphonic Feminisms: Acting in Concert,” before emailing out sections that resonated with me and the work I’m interested in doing. Instead, I enthusiastically exploded the email inboxes of family, co-workers, friends, and even professors with links, starting with the thorough but concise introduction by guest editors Julie Kubala and (Elevate Difference founding editor) Mandy Van Deven, followed by lists of extensive blog and print resources, key thought-provoking and productive articles, strategic quotes, inspiring photography, and other creative projects.

On a visual level, I was first attracted to the gorgeous photographs, intriguing title (what does the musical term polyphony have to do with feminism?), and black/red/white aesthetic that is simultaneously academic, professional, creative, and approachable. There are also a variety of writing styles (poetry, conversational prose, mixed media, and theory) and a diversity of contributors (artists, healers, authors, activists, survivors, educators, students, and performers).

Regarding the theoretical content, what resonated with my own passions and work was the exploration of how the once radical idea of intersectionality has become institutionalized and conceptualized as “a remedy for exclusivity and hegemony.” Jennifer Nash (“On Difficultly: Intersectionality as Feminist Labor”) argues (echoing the thoughts of other contributors) that, “While naming difference certainly allows feminists to bear witness to power's operations, it does little to analyze the mechanisms by which these systems of exclusion are replicated and re-created.” Instead, she calls for intersectionality to be understood as “a metaphor, as one illustration of how structures of domination might cooperate to maintain their power.” A lot of what the journal addresses is about is “how to encourage dissent within communities” in order to continue challenging the forms of resistance; who is speaking, visible and accessing the circulation of radical ideas; and focusing on the possibilities and “what next?”

As the editors explain, “Polyphony, with its focus on non-hierarchical multiplicity, [is] a way to address” these issues, and I would recommend this online journal to anyone interested in joining, or at least reading about, the continual conversations about theory, activism, and the plurality of feminisms.

Written by: Abigail Chance, April 5th 2011

Irish Pages: The Home Place

gita — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Edited by Seán Mac Aindreasa, Chris Agee, Cathal Ó Searcaigh

Jabberwock Books

Edited in Belfast, the biannual journal Irish Pages brings together writings from contemporary Ireland, across Europe, and around the globe. The journal self-describes as “non-partisan, non-sectarian, culturally ecumenical, and wholly independent.” American-born editor Chris Agee has lived in Ireland for more than thirty years, and Irish language editor Cathal Ó Searcaigh was raised in an Irish-speaking district of County Donegal, northwest Ireland.

In "The Home Place," the sixth volume of the journal, the editorial team has brought together an impressive assortment of selections from twenty-one writers, ranging from the reflections of an emigré returning home to an essay by filmmaker Mira Nair. I cannot readily think of another journal where I would encounter contemporary short stories translated from the Maltese along with a beautiful range of Irish poets. Of the short stories, my favorite was “Caillte i gConamara/Lost in Connemara” by Micheál Ó Conghaile, an intense tale of grief, prayer, and lovingly conveyed wild countryside.

As a child, I heard stories from my grandfather about teachers prohibiting the use of Irish in school in the 1930s. This affected me deeply, and when finally I visited Ireland, I rejoiced in the numerous bilingual signs and sought to learn as much Irish as possible. The preservation of languages excites me, and I am thrilled to see contemporary Irish/Gaeilge language writing published (with English translation) in Irish Pages.

Each volume of the journal includes a selection of photographs, and this one contains a portfolio from Frank Miller entitled “Bog Bodies.” These artful (yet, for me, a bit chilling) archaeological photos show the Iron Age bodies, circa 300 BCE, that were unearthed in 2003 and are now displayed at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.

While it is difficult to choose the most outstanding poems, the late Caitlín Maude penned my favorite line in the volume: “I crave the verse/that will set my soul straight.” For this line I am grateful to the editors, who lift up the writing of Irish authors, and to the translator Nuala Ní Chonchúir, for making this writing available to those of us who cannot read Gaeilge.

While this journal reignited my love of Irish, the publication transcends limitations of nation or tongue, and is well worth reading.

Written by: Lisa Rand, February 19th 2011

Irish Pages: The Sea

tina — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Edited by Cathal Ó Searcaigh, Chris Agee

Nicholson and Bass

Also known as Duillí Éireann, Irish Pages is a bilingual, biannual journal edited in Belfast. The journal was started in 2002 with the mission of publishing “in equal measure, writing from Ireland and overseas.” Each issue is themed and "The Sea" is filled with a blend of literary journalism, nature-writing, memoir, short fiction, poetry, and other features like photography and notes from the publishing world. The journal succeeds at printing work that touches on both local (Ulster) and global issues, nourishing ecological awareness, and giving voice to both avante garde and traditional Irish ideas.

Although the website suggests that other issues have included more political or cultural writing than "The Sea," I noted slight nods to a feminist cause in the narratives and poetry chosen, and in the inclusion of one of the three featured essays by Croatian/Serbian writers. According to her byline, Slavenka Drakulic, a woman born in Croatia in 1949, has received threats for her feminist writing in the past. Her essay is about the changes in her ethnic and writing identities, and her concern for how a good portion of her work exists in a “vacuum” because the country she was born in has ceased to exist.

Although Irish poetry is sometimes discussed in reference to Yeats, Heaney, and Muldoon (and Irish Pages has published Paul Muldoon), I liked the balance of contemporary, archival, and Irish language poetry in this issue. Most of the poems were relatively short and beautifully resonant. My favorites included three Irish and English translated poems by Cathal Ó Searcaigh. “Morning Song” reads like an exquisite prayer, and the mist, furze, and quietness in “Mountain Trek” is wonderful.

Some writers received more space than others, but I approved of the inclusion of Aidan Carl Mathews’ essay and six poems. I especially liked the naked honesty and lush, strong words in his poem “Kyrie for a Counsellor.” Also, the poem “Doing Time” is an interesting look at the progression of time while Nelson Mandela was in prison.

"The Sea" gave a lot of attention to the island environment and a chapter from the last volume of a trilogy about Connemara, a peninsula off the western coast of Ireland, featured a lovely mix of memoir, folklore, and science.

Alongside the Celtic mythology in “The Kingdom of Manannan,” there was plenty of Irish Catholic imagery in the collection. Priests, altar boys, rosaries, and Mass books appear in several essays, poems, and stories, such as the short story “The Mourners” by Francis Harvey. It is a compelling read, as are the two sweetly honest poems by Leontia Flynn about her father and his passing.

The variety of the selections—from the introduction of a novel called The Truth Commissioner and the remarks delivered at the launch of “A History of the Town of Belfast,” to the eulogy of a man who did watercolors of Ireland’s thirty wild orchid species—shows a great deal of local pride, artistry, and care on behalf of the editors.

Also, the inclusion of a selection of stunning Marine Micrograph photography made this review a very pleasant experience. Particularly wonderful were the living Radiolarians, which are beautifully symmetric skeletal elements found in marine plankton, magnified and photographed in Golm, Germany. I also really enjoyed the magnified images of candy-bead-like Diatoms photographed in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

Based on my reading of this issue, I would highly recommend Irish Pages. With past issue themes like "The Media," "Empire," "The Earth Issue," and "The Home Place," I assume they are worthwhile reading for non-Irish readers. According to the website, the most recent issue is "The Irish Issue," and it includes more about Connemara by Tim Robinson, a few poem translations, and the rest is contemporary Irish writing, which might be worth learning a little Irish for.

Written by: Julie Ann, February 1st 2011

Calyx (Summer 2010, Issue Vol. 26 No. 1)

annette — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Edited by Editorial Collective

Serving as a forum for women’s creative work, Calyx, a literary journal of art and literature, has been publishing new, emerging and established female writers and artists for the last thirty-four years. The seventy-fifth issue celebrates Calyx’s success and progress, while showcasing the journal’s continued commitment to providing readers with an eclectic mix of poetry, short stories, photography, and other work.

All of the art and literature in Calyx is written or created by women and speaks to themes and issues relevant to the female sex. Be it a photograph, a ceramic sculpture, a nonfiction story or a poem, readers can identify with the issues of loss and hope that permeate the pieces in this journal.

Perhaps the most striking and provocative work in the seventy-fifth issue of Calyx is the art. RoCa Rodriguez Calero’s Virgen Maria collage offers a twenty-first century depiction of Jesus’ mother. The artist’s statement reads: “Instead of the traditional passive woman in blue who looks demurely down… the icon of the Virgen Maria has been contemporized and made more identifiable as a strong, intelligent, striking, and, yes, ‘hot-looking’ woman.” Deep reds and pastel purples and blues combine to reveal a fierce-eyed Virgin Mary. We see a Mary who is confident and proud—which is much different than the typical image.

Kate McCauley’s photographs Pelo and Inward concentrate on the present. Inward features an older woman deep in thought, while Pelo shows the face of a younger girl—the only one in the group of children to turn and look at the camera. Both images evoke a sense of mystery and beckon the viewer to ask questions and look at the photograph again and again.

While all of the stories in the Summer 2010 issue are intriguing and grabbed my attention, Amanda Leskovac’s nonfiction piece Where to Put a Period stood out. Leskovac tells her story of heartbreak and abortion while dealing with life as a quadriplegic. She broaches sex, society and men with wit and the full mastery of her craft.

The majority of the poems in Calyx also are engaging and fresh. Susan Lilley’s "Home Free," Michelle Brittan’s "I Go Back to May 1983," and Julie Moore’s "Intersection" were my favorites as all three poems deal with loss eloquently. Lilley writes “for a minute I feel home free/both parents safely dead, and/my children before daybreak/breathing in the same house.” Here, she captures the bittersweet moment of the death of the speaker’s parents and the return of her children. Moore’s “the day your organs, packed/in ice, were carried in coolers/across Ohio” give rhythm to an accident and depict the speaker’s inability to forget it.

"I Go Back to May 1983," which is after a Sharon Olds poem, recounts the meeting of the speaker’s parents who were once only pen pals. The ill-fated relationship leaves the speaker questioning her existence. She describes how her mother loses her identity in the process of living in America and having a child with a man she can’t relate to: “An accidental commitment to a whole continent, an embodiment/of one life closing and another unfolding, her food/becoming my food, my bones replacing her bones.” It’s a beautiful piece that speaks of multiculturalism, severed families and the creation of life at the cost of dramatically altering another’s.

Without naming names, some of the poems leave something to be desired in terms of mastery of craft. These works seem to have been chosen solely for the messages they attempt to convey. While they do cover pertinent topics, the diction and poetic structure in some of them doesn’t compare to the level of craft in the other works.

Aside from this one flaw, Calyx’s seventy-fifth issue is a refreshing read, complete in its variety of art and literature that relate to and inspire women.

Written by: Michelle Tooker, October 25th 2010

Things Seen

admin — Sat, 15 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

By Annie Ernaux, Jonathan Kaplansky

Bison Books

From the baby carriage to the grave, life unfolds more and more between the shopping center and the television set. – Annie Ernaux

Born in 1940, and a published author since 1974, Annie Ernaux is known for writing in depth about her own life: her parents, her marriage, her abortion, and later, her breast cancer. In Things Seen, Ernaux turns her gaze outward, both to Paris and the world.

Written as a journal, the book feels as though it traveled in a coat pocket, pulled out to pass the time in train stations and grocery stores, riding on the Metro and eavesdropping in cafes. The writer states the journal is a result of the “simple habit of putting life into words.”

Events are recorded through the initial reaction felt by the writer. Refreshingly absent is the expected self-examination and excuses made for the content of the reaction. We hear the writer’s thoughts as she thinks them, without editing. There is no need to place additional weight on any one topic, as one would in conversation; the narrative flows over war, racism, and homelessness as swiftly as it does hair appointments, grocery shopping, and visits to the dentist. This does not render the writer shallow or uninterested; it reminds the reader of all the passing commentary we also make to ourselves in our day-to-day lives. The commentary doesn’t need to make sense to anyone else. In fact, upon reflection it might not make sense at all.

The idea I found most resonant in the book is that while one may feel they are the only true individual in a crowd, to each other person, one is just part of the nameless crowd. The writer’s viewpoint is that of a passive audience, watching other people's lives unfold in front of her with little more emotion than one would actors on a stage. A memorable example is that of the many different beggars encountered on the Metro; the writer finds it easier to give change to someone playing music than to someone who might actually be starving. It is easier to give the same coin for pleasantry than to accept the concept that someone might literally die without that help.

The writer is distanced from actual events, and this makes the book speed along, as we do not stop to analyze the thoughts themselves; we simply follow the words at the pace of life, just as the writer recorded them.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, May 15th 2010

Butterfly Large Journal

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 09:00:00 +0000

By Oberon Design

I have had a love affair with journals for as long as I can remember. I love to collect beautifully designed journals—the top shelf of the bookcase in my home office has almost twenty journals that I gathered during high school and college. Now, I have a new favorite to add to my collection.

The butterfly journal by Oberon Design is incredibly well-crafted. The large version is nine inches in length by six and a half inches in width, with the paper sized at eight and a half inches by five and a half inches. The journal has a metal knob on the front with a butterfly and a leather tie that wraps around it to close. The purple leather has a matching etching, front and back, of a butterfly with black detailing. The pages inside the journal are white and do not have any lines.

The best part about this journal is the paper is replaceable: the inside of the butterfly journal is a plain black hardcover journal, which is placed into the leather sleeve. This means that when you fill up the original journal, you replace it with a new one (Oberon Design sells blank book inserts for $7.75 each). Since the leather is thick and the stitching is very tight, it can take some effort to remove and insert the inner book.

Oberon Design includes a small insert with the journal about caring for the leather. A few tips include keeping the journal out of direct sunlight, not using chemicals or solvents on the leather to clean, and removing any marks by lightly wiping with a clean eraser or a water-dampened cotton cloth. The journal is incredibly sturdy and looks like it will last for years. For journal lovers and prolific writers, the butterfly journal is a good investment that will look fantastic on a bookshelf and when it is being used.

Written by: Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch, February 14th 2010

Reborn: Journals and Notebooks, 1947-1963

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:01:00 +0000

By David Rieff, Susan Sontag

Picador

When reading fictionalized journals, one never experiences the sense of the guilt that results from a real intrusion into someone’s private thoughts and personal life. The fictive writer simply does not exist. When the journal being read belongs to someone who has had a very real public persona, the reader will always experience a few uncomfortable moments. In reading Susan Sontag’s journals, this feeling is amplified tenfold. Firstly, these are the journals of a young woman who eventually became a famous writer and intellectual—the journals start when Sontag is only fourteen years of age. Secondly, the fact that her son, editor and author David Rieff, edited the journals for publication and glimpsed his mother’s private garden is a bit daunting.

From the outset, the thorny question of the dual son-editor role that David Rieff plays should be addressed. Any editor would have chosen to trim down the journals, which span sixteen years of Sontag’s life. This period, and the resulting length of the journals, would be excessive for any publication, and Rieff plans to issue two other tomes covering the rest of her personal writing. In choosing to publish the journals in the first place, the decision to “censure” some of its parts seems questionable. Censure is a term Rieff clearly rejects, citing “the literary dangers and moral hazards of such an enterprise.” But, how could he not let his own emotions act as filters to his mother’s journals’ contents? Rieff sometimes selects “a few representative entries,” while other times he omits complete sections intentionally (as with Sontag’s notes about her trip to Italy) and includes thoughts that had been redacted in the original journals by Sontag herself. Inexplicably for someone so prolific in her journal-keeping, there is a notable absence of notebooks for the years 1951-1952, the years Sontag was first married.

Sontag’s journals were clearly not meant for an audience, contrary to some journals of other famous authors. In his (often moving) introduction, Rieff recognizes that his “decision [to publish] certainly violates [his mother’s] privacy.” The notebooks consist of Sontag’s private thoughts and experiences, and also of random lists, facts, and information. They were most certainly kept by the author to remind herself of some of these pieces of information: films seen, books read, or to be read. It could be argued that the fact that she abbreviates some of her lovers’ names meant she was concerned about possible readers (or snoops) and she also codes some words/ideas with an “X” which Reiff does not (cannot?) interpret.

Sontag’s journals provide some fascinating insight into the author’s development from late adolescence into adulthood, and provide rare glimpses into very private aspects of her life: her homosexuality, her divorce, and various other life experiences. Her “feelings” and personal insights, which we normally associate with a personal journal, are only a minor element in the journals, but probably what most readers will seek the most in her private writings. Although much of the material starts off with a date and the editor provides some guidance in deciphering the entries (possible locations, for example), one only gets the sense, but for brief moments, that we are “along for the ride” with Sontag. As all who have attempted to write journals know, the writing is often sporadic, linked to decisive moments in life and/or strong emotions. For Sontag, as they are for most people, these notable periods were the beginnings of her studies in university and of her writing, her homosexual adventures, the birth and raising of her son, and some of her travels. These snapshots show a different side of Sontag, one that does not always match her public persona. She questions her reactions to love and carnal pleasures, motherhood, marriage, and filial relationships, among other things.

Usually, the publication of journals or correspondence takes place many years after a person’s passing. Sontag passed on in 2004 and this publication allows us to discover another side of her, since the journals were the vehicle for, as she called it, her “sense of selfhood.”

Written by: Sophie M. Lavoie, February 3rd 2010

Trees Zine #4

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:38:00 +0000

By Samantha Trees

A quarter page booklet of photocopied text with one off-center staple and as much profundity as you can cram in that meager space—how else would you present yourself to the world? I thought that zines went out with the twentieth century, at least in the sense of personal confessionals, and journaling went out traded out for online diaries, journals, and social networks. These days even the formal blog seems to be winnowing down to its base denominator: trading out contemplation for a sound bite, reflection for a terse witticism. Zines, with their labor-intensive, frequently amateur construction and problematic-at-best distribution, are the antithesis of convenient, concise communication. For most zinesters, this suits them just fine—better to create something a little flawed and heartfelt than to encapsulate your heart and soul in a polished, pre-packaged medium saddled with embedded advertisements and suspect signifiers of a commodity culture.

Samantha Trees demonstrates in twenty-four tiny and mostly half-filled pages that there’s still plenty of soul in the zine movement, even if it has lost some visibility since its heyday in the 1990s. In her “Hopeless Romantic/Punk As Fuck” fourth issue ($2), Trees revels in the giddy enthusiasm of the first nights living in a punk co-op, starting up what could be considered a pick-up, come-as-you-are riot grrrl music collective, and trying to teach a bunch of grrrls how to play Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” (probably easier than “Double Dare,” although not as fun in my opinion). What really strikes a reader is the hopeful vibrancy of her voice, an optimistic yearning for life still being tested by the daily rigors of post-adolescence.

The content of the zine is hardly more than personal reflections recorded on scrap paper and post-it-notes probably cribbed from where she works if Samantha cleaves as closely to traditional zine assembly as she does its design. Trees is simply presented with an unadorned layout and sparse design. Unfortunately, the text is similarly sparse, with anecdotes and insights that could merit fleshing out.

Trees hints at more in-depth stories and experiences than the zine allows itself to give space. In particular, her experiences with her loves and the time she spends at work with a crisis call center assume direct knowledge of her acquaintances or familiarity with such an environment. Regardless, Trees succeeds in its self-defined mission of offering a “really sincere piece” of the author to the reader. While her opinions occasionally stray into those of questionable wisdom (her rant against the Calgary police force strikes this reader as being shortsighted), the reader can’t help but recognize that these are the irrepressible moments of sincerity, emotion, and passion that grip every young woman before the tawdry banalities of adult life set in their hooks.

Written by: Melissa Ruis, November 14th 2009

Write Here: A Journal for You

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:13:00 +0000

By Cindy Crabb, Amy Watson

1984 Printing

Many journals are just plain, bound, lined pages. Others overwhelm with too many pictures or inspirational quotes. But Write Here has a pleasant mix of printed text and blank space for the writer, and is the perfect size to pack in your purse for writing while on the bus or when you're on your lunch break.

The first pages of the journal are an open to-do lists, which end with helpful and supportive hints: drink water, breathe, tell my friends why I like them, or remind myself how far I’ve come despite the rocky road. These are great reminders to all of us. It’s like the creators of the journal really want reaching out to you, and encourage you to have a good day.

Some of the pages are lined while others are blank, which allows choice in the way you write. If you’re feeling more straightforward, flip to a page with lines. If you’re feeling more free-form, then go to the open pages that are available. Blue line drawings of elephants, cat faces, flowers, stick figures, stars, and more are found dancing across the pages throughout the journal, and keep things exciting as you open it up.

Write Here was created by two women, and at the front of the book there is a twenty-four-month menstrual record chart along with a section to check off when you give yourself a breast exam. There are tips to make your period less stressful-such as cutting back on salt and caffeine, as well as making sure to exercise, sleep regularly, and consume more calcium. It’s a nice inclusion, and something I’ve never seen in a journal before.

This may not be the best journal to give to the men in your life (though that does depend on the man), but I know I can’t wait to fill up my Write Here journal!

Written by: Kristin Conard, July 22nd 2009

A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor

admin — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:22:00 +0000

By Dana Canedy

Crown Publishers

I can’t remember the last time I cried after reading a book. After reading the last page of A Journal for Jordan I suddenly found myself bawling my eyes out. But enough about me—this is a book review after all.

Based on the title of this book, I expected it to be a journal written by a loved one for a loved one. I was aware that the fiancée of a fallen soldier, who also happens to be a New York Times senior editor and Pulitzer Prize winner, had encouraged her fiancée to start a journal for his infant son after learning about his impending deployment to Iraq. I expected a touching book filled with words of wisdom about life lessons learned. This book is that and much more. In it, Canedy tells the story of an unlikely romance between herself, an independent NYT reporter, and First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, a decorated military officer and gentle soul. The book also includes life lessons and inspiration in the form of King’s journal entries and letters.

Canedy came to the writing of this book from her own improbable journey. An army brat who had seen the toll that military life took on her parents’ marriage, she was determined not to marry a military man as her mother had, and worked her way up the ranks from cub reporter to New York Times editor. While nursing a broken heart and a wounded ego after a demoralizing breakup, Canedy finds herself at her parents house on Father’s Day trying to patch up her tenuous relationship with her father, and meets the man who will be the love of her life.

This is a love story of two individuals who couldn’t be more dissimilar and Canedy charts the up and down course of their relationship with humor and honesty. I especially found her anecdotes about King’s old-fashioned courtliness endearing such as his first visit to New York City:

"It occurred to me that perhaps he was the sort of man who still believed in the dating rituals of a bygone era. I was right. The entire weekend, Charles insisted on being on the curbside of the sidewalk to put distance between me and the traffic. It was a sweet throwback gesture that in any other city I would have appreciated, but it drove me crazy as we tried to keep pace with the pedestrian traffic on New York’s one-way streets…"

By the end of the book, Canedy is a single mother raising a small child and struggling with the reality of a life and a future without King. We travel with her as she navigates her new life as an army widow and mother. She tells in wrenching detail about meeting other military families of fallen soldiers at a memorial service, and her commitment to giving her son a sense of the father that he never knew. It seems fitting to end this review with a passage from a letter that King wrote to Canedy on the plane back to Iraq:

"It takes a special kind of woman to be married to a soldier. He’s always going on deployment or training, missing births, birthdays, and any kind of special occasion you can imagine. You really have to be a self-motivated and strong-willed person. You spend a lot of time alone because he’s gone. It’s a tough job being a military spouse. Though we’ve had our difference, you have always been there for me. Thank you."

Written by: Gita Tewari, March 11th 2009

English Grammar Journal

admin — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 19:20:00 +0000

By Ex-Libris Anonymous

The first thing I wanted to do when I pulled this wonderful journal out of its envelope was practice my English skills. Well, not really, but the lovely vintage cover and whimsical page inserts from what seems like old English textbooks throughout the journal convinced me that I did. The blank pages just scream to be be written on, and the way the journal is put together makes that as convenient as possible. The journal is small enough to fit in my purse (although I do carry large bags), but the hard cover and spiral binding ensure that it’s easy enough to write in anywhere, from at home to on the bus to out on the town, if you so desire.

Not often does a journal come along that is so easy to use and also so good-looking, but Ex-Libris Anonymous has done a great job of combining the two. Not only that, but the journals are handmade, which really ensures their quality. Whether you’re writing your innermost thoughts, notes at work, or something creative, this journal is perfect for you.

Written by: Dana Reinoos, August 4th 2007

Small Fomat Handmade Journal

admin — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 14:11:00 +0000

By Ex-Libris Anonymous

I was a bit surprised this month when a children’s story book, in particular Things I Think Of: Sullivans’ Associates Storybook 6A, formerly the property of Rockwood School District No. 27 in Portland, Oregon, showed up with my review materials. Perhaps our benevolent book fairy had lost her mind? As usual, things were just as they should be and it was my mind that had gone south for the winter… er, summer. It turns out that Portland’s Ex Libris Anonymous makes their handmade journals from recycled books and intersperses seventy-five sheets of acid-free paper with pages from the original text.

Before journaling, I could ponder the uses of a stick found on the beach in Chapter One. “Can a chick sit on a stick?” I don’t advise it. If my imagination is on the fritz, I can flip to an excerpt from chapter four and see “the biggest bird Bill can think of.” But don’t get too attached to what’s in mine because each journal is a unique product, and your book could be completely different. Ex Libris’ website boasts blank, silk screened, large-format, smaller and even (gasp) nudie journals, making for the environmentally conscious journal-er, doodler or serious artist to get a paper product fix with relatively less tree carnage.

Written by: H. V. Cramond, July 7th 2007

Large Format Book Journal

admin — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:04:00 +0000

By Ex-Libris Anonymous

The handmade journal by Ex Libris Anonymous put a huge smile on my face from the first moment I took it out of the box. It’s most definitely one-of-a-kind, made from a fifth grade language arts textbook, complete with the ubiquitous and familiar “THIS BOOK IS THE PROPERTY OF:” emblazoned on the inside of the front cover. If you’re Isaiah D., Jamie, or Emily (1993), this book at one time may have been yours. But Ex Libris Anonymous didn’t stop there, they included pages of the textbook bound in-between the unlined, acid free paper. Whether used as light reading or as writing exercise prompts, the textbook pages are a definite bonus. Also especially fun are the watercolour illustrations on all the textbook pages, and the included textbook chapter title pages, such as “In The Mind’s Eye” and “Fads and Fascinations.”

Oftentimes I’ve received journals I’m afraid to mar or dirty. However, this handmade journal, with its tough, pre-marred cover, is amazingly liberating. It’s spiral bound, so it lays flat on a table, or it can be flipped around to make sketching or writing easy. Maybe it’s the nostalgic idea of writing in my textbook (being “bad”) or the comfortable warmth of the banged-around corners, but I have no qualms about whether or not what I write in this journal is perfect.

Written by: Amy Lynn Hess, June 11th 2007