hould we read authors outside our race, sex, class, culture? Some say it’s impossible to read outside our particular heritage. They argue women should read female authors. Blacks read Black authors. Jews read Jewish authors. And so on. It’s suggested this kind of reading will empower and enhance identity.

 

But this approach limits literature’s scope and appeal. The great writers of the past strove for a wide audience, creating a whole universe of characters very different from themselves. Leo Tolstoy said of the heroine of Anna Karenina, “I am Anna Karenina.” Shakespeare imagined brilliant female characters like Lady Macbeth and Juliet of Romeo and Juliet. Flannery O’Connor depicted creepy male characters like the murdering Misfit in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”

 

Literature is an act of the sympathetic imagination. It’s a deliberate attempt to enter the minds, hearts, and worlds of people unlike ourselves. If the story succeeds, readers will find wisdom, humor, and connection, no matter their race, gender, or religion.

 

Writing and reading seek to enlarge the self, to expand its scope and possibilities. I relearn this every time we publish a new issue of The Writer’s Workshop Review. I revel in the new stories and new worlds to explore. This, our 16th issue, is no exception. We have the privilege of publishing an excerpt from David Guterson’s heartfelt new novel, The Final Case; Christina M. Guillen’s touching “Shot in the War”; Clarke Owen’s delightfully idiosyncratic, “Do People Still Read Flannery O’Connor?”; Mark Scheel’s richly atmospheric love story, “Bangkok Days and Nights”; Meredith Escudier’s puckish appreciation of French culture in “Bound for Bordeaux”; and Elisa Stancil Levine’s wise and inspiring, “This New Day.” I'd like to thank the following people for their help with this issue: all the writers who contributed, Managing Editor Kathleen Glassburn for keeping things on track, and Irene Wanner for careful reading of submissions and editing of manuscripts. We’re looking for an additional reader, so please let us know if you’re interested. It’s a great opportunity to learn about contemporary literature.

 

We hope you enjoy the 16th issue of The Writer's Workshop Review. Please let us know what you think, and if you have a story that might work for us, please send it. We read all year and welcome submissions at any time. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Nicholas O’Connell, M.F.A, Ph.D., is the author of The Storms of Denali (University of Alaska Press, 2012), On Sacred Ground: The Spirit of Place in Pacific Northwest Literature (U.W. Press, 2003), At the Field’s End: Interviews with 22 Pacific Northwest Writers (U.W. Press, 1998), Contemporary Ecofiction (Charles Scribner’s, 1996) and Beyond Risk: Conversations with Climbers (Mountaineers, 1993). He contributes to Newsweek, Gourmet, Saveur, Outside, GO, National Geographic Adventure, Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sierra, The Wine Spectator, Commonweal, Image, Rock + Ice and many other places. He is the publisher/editor of The Writer’s Workshop Review and the founder of the creative writing program ( http://www.thewritersworkshop.net).