Aura, UAB's literary arts review, publishes talented writers and
artists in Alabama. With over 144 pages in this issue, Aura offers quality poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual artwork. For more information about Aura, see the editor's introduction reprinted below.
Editor’s Introduction
I joined the staff of Aura Literary Arts Review back in late 2006, and I will be stepping down
as editor in chief after the publication of this issue. I remember that around the same time I joined
up I had decided to major in English and Creative Writing. While mulling over what to say for this
introduction, I started thinking of a lesson I learned a little while back: never write for yourself. That
is the discipline I see in all great writers and, generally speaking, those who get published. It is hard
to write for others, and it is easy to be abstract in writing as you try to translate what is in your head
into what you say on paper or on the computer screen. I’ve made this mistake many times. I still do.
Everyone who writes or engages at some kind of art does at one point or another. I’ve often gone
over-time and again-what makes people write or do art, what it is that drives us to say something.
And I keep coming to the idea that the whole point is that we are saying something.
I chose a quote from Cormac McCarthy for the back cover because I had recently read one
of his earlier novels: Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West. As he often does, Mc-Carthy explores the violent nature of humans. As rough as the book was, it was that he had something
to say that drove him to write his novel. I feel that it is that same idea that drives the artists
and writers in this issue. We all fi nd certain truths in the themes we explore, certain truths found in
beauty, ugliness, sadness, elation. Contributors in this issue have found their truths or observations
on beaches, on porches, in crazy people named “Marge,” in memories, in sunsets, in nighttime, in
history, on bicycles, in old cars, with wives and daughters, in parks, in urban areas, in natural landscapes
and among the myriad of other images and themes that you will fi nd as you read on. They are
there to share with the readers of the prose and poetry and the admirers of the art and photography.
If you have something to say, write it down. If you have something to show us, take a picture of it or
paint it on a canvas. Never write or do art for yourself only, share it with us. If you don’t make it the
first time, try again. The real failure in writing and art is giving up entirely.
We here at the staff of Aura Literary Arts Review thank all the contributors for sharing what
they had to say and show us. We also thank you, the readers, for supporting us all this time.
------ Nathan Prewett, Editor in Chief
This issue showcases many of the true
talents in Alabama including established writers and artists.
Poets
featured include Earl Coleman, John Kristoco, Jane Stuart, Daniel DeVaughn, Jacob Meyer, Chris Waters, Robert F. Thimmesh, Ashley Jones, Sandhya, Kumar, Sarah, Harrell, Eric Glidwell, Jamie Walden.
Fiction authors include Ken Abbot, Earl Coleman, Phillip R. Rheibert.
Artists in the Spring 2009 issue include Allison Bliss, Holly S. Schwalen, Xiao Jin Zou, Rachel Johnson, Jonathan Hicks, Alexander Mcalpine, Alyssa Mitchell, Amy Kilpatrick, Yui-Hui Huang, Alex McClurg, Miles Walls, Jeff Chambless, Nathan Prewett, Kathy Baty, Chad Johnson.
Front Cover art by George Brazier.
Back Cover art by Cormac McCarthy.
