Editor's Note
Alicia Thompson
As Samuel Johnson once said, “the two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.” That’s exactly what the contributors to this issue of Saw Palm have done with their work – they depict the Florida that outsiders expect, replete with palm trees and housing developments, while also describing the Florida that only a native could appreciate. They write of forgotten Indian burial grounds, rotting oranges and insect carcasses, the stink of sweat on Miami public transport. Florida is by turns an aerial map of water and land, an Eden of temptation, and a hell filled with reminders of time passing, of death.
In interviews with Connie Mae Fowler and Peter Meinke, we get a glimpse into the perspectives of two accomplished writers on what it means to live and write in Florida, and what it means to write about Florida after moving away. In poetry, stories, essays, and artwork, our talented contributors plant seeds of what Florida means to them. We hope that those will take root with you as the reader, and will wind and grow in your imagination of what this tragically beautiful state has to offer other than hurricanes and Disneyworld.
This is our inaugural print issue of Saw Palm, and we couldn’t be more excited about the final product of so many fine submissions and hard work. The editors and staff that I’ve had the honor of working with are passionate about Florida literature and art – they’d have to be, for all the hours spent reading submissions, designing web pages, editing layout, and managing distribution. Perhaps that’s why this issue crackles with an indescribable energy for us, as though the combination of these words and pictures can form the bolts of lightning this Tampa area is so famous for. As you turn these pages, we hope that you feel it, too.