Rhubarb #31

Editorial meeting at 9:30 this morning with Armin Wiebe, Sarah Klassen and Aiden Enns (no relation) putting together a story list for Rhubarb #31, with Money as its theme. Published by the Mennonite Literary Society, Rhubarb magazine provides an outlet for the rather loosely defined (practicing, declined, resistant) Mennonite voice in visual images, non-fiction, fiction and poetry.  Armin is editing the fiction, Aiden the non-fiction, and Sarah the reviews, except when it’s her new poetry collection or mine. 

After a  brief rest and my first cranial sacra massage, I am back to work, this time as President and chair of the Mennonite Literary Society Board, meeting at 3:00 and finishing at 5:30. Subscription and renewal drives, donor campaigns, potential fundraising events, proposals to foundations, grant applications, advertising, all to support an unlikely secular cultural Mennonite literary and visual arts magazine. As always the gloves come off when we talk about the fun stuff, the stuff that actually goes into the magazine, publishing three issues annually. It’s all good, because we all want more submissions, striving to improve the quality of what we publish. All this on a $30,000 budget publishing over 150 pages annually. www.rhubarbmag.com. Issues 20 – 26 available on-line. Time to pack up for the evening, back in the Arts Branch office tomorrow. Maybe I’ll watch some U.S. Open Tennis.