Holiday Cheer!

So Thanksgiving is over.... the holiday where we remember what we are thankful for and eat a lot of cranberry sauce is immediately followed by the holiday of: What am I going to buy So-and-so for Christmas/Hanukkah/Holiday of your choice?  There will be long lines at stores, silver wrapping paper, tinny music about reindeer, fights in the parking lot over the last empty space.  Ah, maybe my view of the holidays is a bit bleak. Maybe December like Thanksgiving can be a great excuse to remember why we do the things we do, and the people around us while we are doing those things.

(play the cheesy [but heartfelt] music)

I personally am thankful for Indiana Review...and all the literary magazines out there. I am thankful because words are important. Sharing words, being moved by words, discovering new things about yourself and the world through literary works.  I am thankful that I get to be part of something so revolutionary as printing words on the page.

Like everyone out there, I could make a pitch to buy a subscription (or copy of) Indiana Review for all your holiday gift needs, but I'm not quite going to do that. I'm going to say, this:

If you are are a fan, reader, or writer and are thankful for communities supporting current literary stuffs, support by doing a few of the following:
--Write!
--Read!
--Send your own work out for consideration.
--Subscribe to Indiana Review or any other journal that suits your word-fancy.
--Print copies of your favorite poems by your favorite authors and send them with your holiday cards.
--Buy books at the independent bookstore in your town.
--Read out loud! to your loved ones!
--Subscribe to Indiana Review or any other journal that suits your word-fancy.

Support what you are thankful for so as to make sure it will continue to exist. Also, if your sick of waiting in lines and don't know what to get your BFF or your mother, why not give the gift that arrives in thier mailbox twice a year, no lines!

--aks