Here is a throwback piece from Elan’s 1999 Spring Issue, by its then Editor-in-Chief Billy Merrell. Since graduating from Douglas Anderson, Merrell published his first book Talking in the Dark, a poetry memoir, with Scholastic in 2003. He also co-edited The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities for Knopf Books for Young Readers with David Levithan. It was released in 2006 and won the 2007 Lammy in the Children’s/Young Adult category. Merrell has been a frequent guest writer at the bi-annual Douglas Anderson Writers’ Festival.

Quickening

Billy Merrell

I felt it push inside

the poetry

I read it, but didn’t

dream it, and now

there… Oh! a push

from the inside, and words are in me

pregnant of language

kicking with the verse

and verbiage, but Oh!

And I love that feeling

being a father a mother

giving life.

They told me

“It will come in time,”

But when I dreamt it

it was ugly

the rain came angry

and the process married

only hours of cold sweat

and in the end, a still born…

but don’t worry,

that was only a dream

I am here still

with a child inside me

waiting to be born,

I have found clothes, fitting

prepared the nursery and now,

am only waiting

for the inspiration, the night

and the child, unborn and breathing my

breaths.

The beginning of October can only mean two things: summer has ended and another year of school has begun. A new school year brings new classes, new people, and new experiences.

I entered the Élan classroom on the first day knowing plenty of new things were in store. There were still holes from the 2013 Print Edition to fill, a website that needed updating, and students that needed new direction. The staff jumped in head first, knowing that we already knew how to swim.

Staff members were assigned a focused job with specific tasks to complete before we were able to move forward with receiving submissions for our upcoming 2013 Winter Edition. My job you ask? I was assigned to organize all submissions. I was busy right away because all of the people we received work from outside of our school last year never got contacted (I feel it necessary to point out that we were not an international magazine before and we’re new the whole process. We sincerely apologize if you are one of those who didn’t get contacted for a few months).

Then the staff made a decision that changed the dynamics of my job entirely: we wanted to allow submissions to be sent through email instead of just mail. I knew we would begin to get high traffic of submissions by email, and I couldn’t wait to see submissions come in from all over the world. While a fancy looking website and fabulous looking books are important, the writing is what truly makes the staff excited. We have already seen addresses from California, New York, Korea and many others and can’t wait to see more people from around the world submitting (see our submissions tab for all information on how to submit via email).

I know all of the time I’ve spent organizing submissions will pay off when the Winter 2013 Edition launches on November 15^th and we have connected writers from around the world.

I can’t wait to see your submission by Friday, October 11^th!

–Makenzie Fields, Submissions Editor