Glasfryn Project

Welcome to the fifth edition of Junction Box. Fifth sounds good, in a modest sort of a way, it has a hint of a jaunty outgoing air about it. The pubescent hippogriff paws at the grass, eyes the horizon and senses the viability of its full-fledged vans. That kind of thing. Anyway, it feels like one of those stages worth a mention.

At the start – cheerfully mixing metaphors here – Junction Box was a bit of a leap into the unknown; a tentative leap into the unknown at that. It still feels like an experiment and I hope it always will, but thanks to the openness and generosity of so many fine writers, the experiment has already more than justified itself, in my opinion and judging by the comments rolling in (for which, heartfelt gratitude).

The fifth edition, like the first four, is a fascinating miscellany of prose-work (plus) by some of the best and most interesting poets currently writing in Britain and beyond. Looking on, I’m continually surprised and delighted by the variety of topic and mode and language coming through the channels: the factual, the fictive, the comic, the rhapsodic, the homely, the dreamy, the robust, the academic, the speculative, the radical… This is the kind of rough and tumble jumble that Junction Box was hoping to make itself available for and it’s what it’s got. What it’s also got, by the by as it were, are some real gems in these various modes of speaking and thinking and seeing, not to mention some genuine marvels of the art of prose writing, for which I can only raise my hands in a worshipful gesture.

No painters this time, but in future editions we’re hoping to open out the catchment area on a more rigorous basis and include writing by artists in other forms and genres. It’s good to be able to include videos, and I imagine this is an area which will expand through future editions.

Meanwhile, Junction Box has a slightly new-look location. It’s found on what is now the Glasfryn Project site, and it’s possible that some coming issues may relate strongly to events occurring in connection with the Glasfryn thing.

So here we go with number five. Flap hippogriff. Thanks again to everyone for their good will in the face of zero remuneration and for their willingness to take a risk on a slightly chancy organism.

 

Lyndon Davies is a poet, reviewer and essayist living in Powys. He has published two collections of poetry, Hyphasis (Parthian) and Shield (Parthian). He co-runs the Glasfryn Seminars, a series of literary discussion groups, and, with poet John Goodby, an intermittent festival of innovative poetry: The Poetry Jamboree.

View all: issue 5, Junction Box | Posted on 20 Nov 2013 |