Issue Three: Portrait/[self]-Portrait + A Letter from the Editor

Dearest readers,

July is upon us and with it, a new issue of our literary and arts magazine!

We welcome you ever humbly to our third issue, Portrait/[self]-Portrait.

For our third issue, the staff at Bombus Press decided to take a step back and examine the role of the individual and the collective. How does one construct one’s identity? How do labels interact and form and shape everything in our world? How does writing and art allow us to capture, transcend and coalesce identities?

The literary magazine then becomes a space in which new ideas can be compiled and interact with each other. As such, you cannot divorce the work from the historical context in which it was created. While injustice is not a new concept, certain current political conditions bring these concepts of identity to the forefront. There are a set of square brackets surrounding the 'self' of this issue. The bracketing around the 'self' in the title of this issue reflects the seams, unturned corners, and edges addressed within the magazine. 

This issue is filled with a swarm of voices; it is an investigation, a reflection, and a rallying call for the summer months. There is a tenderness in these works that begins at the base of the spine and crawls up and makes itself known. They are stunning, brash, uplifting, and utterly necessary.

(For the moments when you crack open the world and music slips in.) Like our last issue, we have included a playlist crafted by our own fiction editor that you can listen to here.

We are also coming up on the first anniversary of the founding of the journal! The idea for Bombus Press first came to me during a stiflingly hot train ride, after a trip to Claude Monet's garden at Giverny. The bees that I saw clustering around the poppies and darting across the lily ponds followed me back home and there planted the idea that was to become this journal. What you see is an ever-evolving project that we hope will continue to grow with each issue. 

And if you are wondering if we shall ever return to the bridge of wonderment that is one of the foundations of this magazine, worry not! As I sat outside under the mid-afternoon sun typing, a very large bumblebee flew in front of my screen. I have understood that as a sign of approval.

One thousand thank yous to our contributors and readers, without whom this issue could not be possible. 

Marilyn Schotland

Call for Submissions - Issue Three: Portrait/[self]-Portrait

“In springtime, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring. ”

— William Shakespeare

Dearest readers,

It’s been a little while since we have been on here, but we are back again this time with a few announcements. Somewhere along the way, the lilacs and azaleas began to bloom and I saw my first cluster of bumblebees puttering along the grass. Everything is in bloom and as the poet e. e. cummings once put it, “it’s spring and the goat-footed balloon man whistles far and wee.” With the arrival of the bees and warmer temperatures, we’re extraordinarily excited to announce that we are opening up our submissions for our themed, third issue!

This is Portrait/[self]-Portrait. The concepts of portrait and the self-portrait are not too terribly uncommon in the art world and are foundational to any type of art making. Indeed, the constant reevaluation of identity is essential to this process and profoundly necessary in these times. This is about creating new ways of seeing in a platform that is accessible. How do we respond to the conditions of everyday life? 

What are we looking for? Send us your sketchbook and journal pages, poems that discuss your perspective and ways that your identities coalesce. Send us works that discuss moments of both comfort and discomfort. We would like to underscore especially that we are seeking works from diverse creators, as too often the canons of art and literature are centered on the work of the proverbial straight, white man. This is a rallying call or a murmuration from a small corner of the literary world: to disrupt, insert, and create a new paradigm in the history of this magazine. We are hoping to have this be our largest issue to date!

Some more updates on what we are expanding and including in this round:

• Creative non-fiction! Please check out our submissions page for more information on what we're looking for.
• For this issue, we would like you to send us a picture of yourself along with your submission.

Submissions to bombuspress@gmail.com are open until June 2nd, and as always, feel free to send us any questions you might have. We are looking forward to seeing all of your work!

Marilyn Schotland