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TELLING IT REAL:
THE BEST OF PILGRIMAGE MAGAZINE
(VOLUME 34 OF PILGRIMAGE)
 In lieu of new issues in 2009, we put together a Best of Pilgrimage
anthology. This anthology has been sent out to all current subscribers
and is now available for purchase. Here's a little more information on
the contents of Telling it Real: The Best of Pilgrimage Magazine
2003-2008.
Back in 2002, when I took on the task of editing Pilgrimage, I had an idea that if it was to be worth the paper it was printed on, it needed to be a kind of community-in-print; it needed to be a publication rooted in its geography, but not limited by that; it needed to be a venue for writers whose words told it real and told it hot, to borrow from the words of D.H. Lawrence. Otherwise, why tell it at all?
Tonight, as has often been the case when I get around to writing these words of welcome to one issue or another, it is late and the kids are in bed, I have a little time, a cold one in hand, and some good rockin’ tunes on the boom box—“So the Caravan is on its way, I can hear the merry gypsies play,” sings Van “the Man” Morrison. I offer a toast toward the waxing moon that sheds its light over this mountan valley—recently covered with a fresh batch of snow—and settle back in at this desk to get some words of introduction onto this page.
On this particular night, e-mails are coming in from the writers whose poems and stories appear on these pages. They are sending me their bio notes, a few headlines from their writing lives. I look forward to hearing from these poets and writers, many of whom have become friends over the last seven years. The idea of a community-in-print has been real at least from this side of the page.
In the task of sifting through all the good work that has come my way and selecting the pieces for this book, some parameters were called for. The first one was to choose some poems and stories that have thrown a special kind of light on this caravan of a magazine. “Turn it up . . .Turn it up . . . Little bit higher . . . Radio . . . Turn it up . . . that’s enough . . . so you know . . . it’s got soul, ” sings Van the Man. I hope this collection cranks the volume a little for the writers that you are about to read. One thing is for sure: they’ve got soul. I’m convinced that the quality of writing I think of as soul happens best when a writer asks some good questions, is willing to follow them into the depths, and is not afraid to be still and listen for what comes. I think that’s why many of these poems and essays have stayed with me after I first read them: sometimes they pose a query or two to us as readers, encouraging us to spend a little time in the depths as well; often they clear the way for a little bit of reflection and wonder. The words that emerge from the lives of such writers aren’t about strutting their stuff. Instead, they invite and encourage a sense of connection between writer and reader.
This collection is centered around this core value as well as the themes which a wide range of voices have explored in Pilgrimage over the years: story, place, spirit, and witness. Story has to do with the value of letting our lives speak, of sharing what we’ve learned on the road. Place is rooted in the desire for a sense of being at home in our own skins and in the geographies that sustain us. Spirit speaks to the ways in which we are led beyond our own personal concerns and into an appreciation of a greater wisdom wherever it may come from. Witness is a willingness to be present to both the joys and terrors that we encounter along the way, and to let them lead us into a deeper sense of interrelationship and responsibility.
Another priority, both in editing the magazine and this anthology, has been to provide a place for the writers of the greater southwest to meet and listen to one another. Colorado writers are most heavily represented here, but so are voices from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, California, and beyond. I believe that Pilgrimage has played a role in celebrating the writers of this region and I believe it will continue to do so.
To all the writers and readers who have supported the work of Pilgrimage over the years, I thank you, as I thank the two previous editors who kept the fire going after the first issue of this little magazine came out back in 1972. And I wish the best for Maria Melendez, a fine poet and editor who will take Pilgrimage into 2010 and beyond, as always, telling it real.
Peter Anderson
December 1, 2009
Vulture Gulch
Crestone, Colorado
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