Editors’ Introduction

Photo by Taylor Brorby

DEAR READER:

4,500 miles. 4,500 miles in three weeks is how many miles we logged zipping, conversing, and teaching across North Dakota. It felt good to be back home, visiting new places, making new friends, and bearing witness to the rapid growth and development happening in North Dakota.

We traveled as far south as Hettinger and Solen, as far east as Devils Lake, as far west as Beach, Williston, and Watford City, and as far north as Crosby. We taught wonderful college students in Williston and Dickinson, and we were able to visit new places for each of us, like Dunn Center, Tioga, and Powers Lake.

We were often traveling across the prairie at the perfect hour: 4-5 p.m., when the slant of light makes the subtle hues of wheat, prairie grass, and buttes burst in full autumnal regalia. We saw the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, pronghorn antelope and pheasants along Highway 22, and snow geese in Divide County. Our travels were marked by North Dakota’s abundance of life.

Something, too, we found in abundance were writers. North Dakota is one of three states in the nation without a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. But perhaps the best-kept secret of the prairie is that there are people picking their brains and putting pen to paper. In this issue, you will find some of those people--they may be your neighbors, new residents to North Dakota, or long-forgotten friends. We hope you enjoy their words as much as we have.

It is said that after Michelango died, someone found a note to his apprentice, scrawled in the old artist’s handwriting. The note said, “Draw, Antonio, draw, Antonio, draw and do not waste time.” In this line of thinking, we believe that the pieces that follow bear witness to those people of North Dakota who believe in the power of words.

Enjoy.

Debra Marquart and Taylor Brorby