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Joy, Issue 13 Editorial


'Sunrise in the park' by Emma Haworth
'Sunrise in the park' by Emma Haworth

When we first came up with the idea of releasing a joy-themed issue for this January, we were concerned that it might be seen as trivial, blinkered, or insensitive. The world seems like a dark place lately.


But the more we read and thought about joy, the more we came to see it as an essential, and even radical, emotion. As Rebecca Solnit explains in her brilliant Hope in the Dark, ‘Joy doesn’t betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a fine act of insurrection’. To feel joy is therefore not to deny the darkness, but to challenge it.

 

We loved the range and depth of joy that flooded our inbox following our call for submissions, spanning life-changing events and tiny moments of pure happiness (sometimes within the same poem – see Elizabeth Osmond’s wonderful simultaneous celebration of toast and new life in ‘The world begins with’). None of the poems that we received talked of finding joy in material wealth or power. To the contrary, the joy that we encountered spoke of relationships (with friends, family, and nature); a conscious appreciation of the small things; fresh starts; and the comfort of memories. There’s loss and trauma here too, but also hope. Always hope.

 

It was these experiences of joy that we felt were so beautifully captured in Emma Haworth’s painting ‘Sunrise in the park’, with its bright, wintry morning scene, and its hopeful, everyday togetherness.

 

In this issue, you will encounter the bliss of fish and chips, cheese, and hot coffee, as well as the happiness sparked by bedtime stories, birdsong, and birthdays. We hope that you find joy here, and that joy finds you.


Catherine and Tara

The Dust Editors



  1. The world begins with by Elizabeth Osmond

  2. Just alight, rippling by Laura Hemmington

  3. All praise for the count of two by Lesley Curwen

  4. The Happiest 'Happy Birthday' Ever by Paul Stephenson

  5. Izakaya by Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana

  6. What Larks by Matt Gilbert

  7. A Floating Tree House by Doryn Herbst

  8. Flying Ant Day by Tim Relf

  9. Fade by Amy L King

  10. The first trees by Laurence Levy-Atkinson

  11. Swing song by Claire Urquhart

  12. Morning News by Nina Parmenter

  13. Cheese in a budget hotel room by Holly Magill

  14. The First Day by Luigi Coppola

  15. So many amoebas by Hannah McCann

  16. Nostos by Alice Stainer

  17. My Granada students want to know why I moved to Spain by Becky May

  18. Birdsong by Tim Stobierski

  19. Homemade Treat by Ronnie Sirmans

  20. Love Begins Off the Record by Meredith Macleod Davidson

  21. Sometimes, there is happiness by Elizabeth M Castillo

  22. Apricity by Barry Hollow

  23. Drinking My Coffee in Winter by Erich von Hungen

  24. Portrait of my mother at the kitchen sink by Jeanette Burton

  25. You are more of a poet at five than I will ever be by Victoria Spires

  26. The Difference Between Swallows & Swifts by Julian Bishop

  27. Bedtime Stories by Jane Bloomfield

  28. Poem of Respite Written with Ultraviolet Light by Adam Gianforcaro

  29. At the Service Station by Carolyn Oulton

  30. Laundry Day by Paul Short

  31. stop gifting me bookmarks by Eugenia Pozas

  32. Rare Day in Edinburgh by Martin Potter

  33. In our bed by Nancy Huggett

  34. When We Come Back As Horses by Mary Ford Neal

  35. Sashaying Away by Aidan Coyle

  36. One Perfect Rose Head by Aidan Coyle


A note on reading: If you are reading this issue on a phone you may find that switching to desktop view restores the intended structure and line breaks of the broader poems.



Emma Haworth

Represented by Rebecca Hossack Gallery, Haworth’s paintings are inspired by poems, fairy tales, stories or biblical tales that have a relationship with our contemporary society. The places she paints are magical, full of secrets and hints of stories. 

 

A new book of Emma’s work,’ To everything there is a season’, with over 60 images, forward by Caitlin Moran and writing by Matthew Sturgis is available at all good bookshops. 


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