Lichen

There's been a little excitement around here! Recently someone with more time than imagination commandeered LICHEN's website for purposes less noble than the presentation of literature and art.

If you have not been able to access the site over the past month, or you saw some strange stuff going on in Spanish, we hope you'll find your way back to us. We've been assured by our webhost that all is well again.

Yes, LICHEN as a bi-annual publication remains in stasis. However, its editors are as busy as ever with their own endeavours:

RUTH E. WALKER - Ruth's latest novel manuscript is with a publisher. Her poetry most recently appeared in CV2, Prairie Fire, is forthcoming in the Scottish journal Chapman, placed third in the Bliss Carman Poetry award competition and was nominated for a National Magazine Award. She continues to edit, write, hold workshops, and teach as an Artist in Residence through an Ontario Arts Council pilot project. She also sits on the Board of Directors of Driftwood Theatre Group. Visit her website at: ruthewalker.wordpress.com.

GWYNN SCHELTEMA - Gwynn continues to work as a senior writer/editor for the Ministries of Education and Training, Colleges and Universities. She was awarded the Timothy Findley Creative Writing Prize, which is administered by Trent University’s English Literature Department. She frequently conducts writing workshops, and, alongside Ruth, also runs writing retreats through their writescape.ca series. She is closing in on completing work on her current novel.

INGRID RUTHIG - Ingrid's work continues to appear in literary journals (most recently Gloom Cupboard, Ditch, and Grain), industry publications such as Quill & Quire, and she was recently profiled in the arts magazine Surfacing. Her book Richard Outram: Essays on His Works is now set for release in 2010 (Guernica Editions). She continues to work on various manuscripts, an extensive image/text project (solo exhi-bitions are already set for 2010), and to freelance edit both literary fiction and poetry. Reach her by email at:

STEVEN LAIRD - His poetry collection Charlatan (published by Ronsdale Press) was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award. Other work includes the chapbook A Sea Tale(LittlefishcartPress) and a new collection of his poems, currently titled "Cage Operations". He continues to commute from Oshawa to Toronto, where he is living the dream as a consultant, until the next upswing in trading on the international poetry commodities exchange (IPEX). He has a collection of enormous things. Visit his site.

MARK MEDLEY - Mark continues to work as an arts reporter with the National Post in Toronto. When he's not interviewing authors, he's trying to be one himself. He is also currently working on a novel, short stories, and a screenplay. For more news about Mark, visit his site at: www.markmedley.net.

Hearty congratulations to friend & colleague Jeramy Dodds, whose first poetry collection Crabwise to the Hounds (Coach House Books, 2008) won the Trillium Award and was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Gerald Lampert Award. Jeramy's work previously appeared in LICHEN's Spr/ Summer 2007, Spr/Summer 2005, and Fall 2000 issues.

LICHEN editor Ruth E. Walker's poem "The Doctor Drowns in Bertioga, Brazil, 1979" was nominated for a National Magazine Award by PRAIRIE FIRE magazine. The poem also won third place in the Bliss Carman Poetry Award.

Congratulations also to past LICHEN contributors Sharon McCartney and Antony Di Nardo. Their poems "Lady Ashley" (McCartney) and "On the Moroccan coast" (Di Nardo), first published in the Spring/Summer 2007 "Missing" issue, were longlisted for the anthology The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008, edited by Molly Peacock and Stephanie Bolster (Tightrope Books, Toronto).

Readers: copies of LICHEN's largest-ever issue - Spring/Summer 2007 "Missing" - can be purchased by mail order. Refer to our Where To Buy page for details.

The Editorial Board was stunned and deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Evan Green, owner of Mothersill Printing, LICHEN's long-time printer. From 1998-99, when LICHEN began to take shape, Evan proved to be more than a colleague; his unwavering support, patience, reliability, and humour helped us through the growing pains of publishing a periodical. He was a good friend, who always had time for conversation. He will be sorely missed. Our sympathy and thoughts go out to his family.

Please note that if you had an ACTIVE SUBSCRIPTION, a letter was included with the Spr/Sum '07 issue mailout, to describe options for your subscription's fulfillment. The deadline for reply was October 1st, 2007, in order for us to complete your subscription/order.