Whitefish Review launches ‘The Vortex’ issue
Whitefish Review will launch its 27th issue “The Vortex” on Thursday, June 23 at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake tent pavilion on the shores of Whitefish Lake. The event will feature readings by the poet laureate of Montana, Mark Gibbons, Montana Book Award winner, Chris La Tray, and Whitefish High School student, Gracie Hickman.
“The past two years have certainly stirred things up, spinning us all around in circles and creating a lot of confusion,” says founding editor Brian Schott. “In this issue, we seek center spaces inside the storm where there is calm. What is lost and what is found? Ultimately, we seek to use the power of art and literature to bridge boundaries and provide community.”
The issue features 40 writers, artists, and photographers from 13 different states, as well as international submissions from Finland, Germany, and Switzerland. The issue also features a short essay and interview with Garrison Keillor, as well as an interview with retired NFL hall of fame quarterback Drew Bledsoe, conducted on the chairlift at Whitefish Mountain Resort this winter.
Mark Gibbons custom “vortex” poem sets the pace for the issue while Chris La Tray’s essay dives into the echoes of displacement from land stolen from the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in the modern day. Gracie Hickman shares an essay about growing up and mental health.
Gibbons is the author of eleven collections of poetry. He received an Artist Innovation Award from the Montana Arts Council in 2013 and is the current poetry editor of the Montana Poets Series for FootHills Publishing. His latest book, In the Weeds, was published by the Drumlummon Institute in 2021.
La Tray is a descendent of the Pembina Band of the mighty Red River of the North, and an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. His first book, One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large won the 2018 Montana Book Award and a 2019 High Plains Book Award. His third book, Becoming Little Shell, will be published by Milkweed Editions in 2023.
Hickman is a student at the Whitefish Independent High School and fifth generation of Whitefish. She loves to spend time outside climbing, hiking, camping, skiing, and fly fishing. She is a passionate advocate of mental health, women’s rights, and the environment. She won the Jobs for Montana’s Graduates essay contest, from which her essay is adapted.
Other notable features include an excerpt from Doug Peacock’s new book, Was it Worth It: A Wilderness Warrior's Long Trail Home (Patagonia Books, 2022) and an excerpt from Butch Larcombe’s book Montana Disasters: True Stories of Treasure State Tragedies and Triumphs (Far Country Press, 2021). Chrysti “the Wordsmith” Smith opens the issue with a dive into the language of the vortex and its word origins.
Legendary singer John Dunnigan will provide live entertainment at the event. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for cocktails and music and readings begin at 8 p.m. A season pass to Whitefish Mountain Resort will be raffled, as well as a silent auction for framed photography by Sean R. Heavey. The event will also be live streamed on the Review’s Facebook page.
The cover of the issue is a composite photo created by overlaying two images of a supercell thunderstorm building in intensity, shot one hour apart in 2010 on the Hi-Line near Hinsdale, Montana by Sean R. Heavey.
The evening is sponsored by Humanities Montana, The Whitefish Community Foundation, Glacier Bank, and The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. A $10 entry donation is suggested to support the non-profit journal.
Whitefish Review publishes art and literature that explores the landscapes of the human condition, our connection to the natural world, and illuminates how the confluence of art and science alongside the complex issues of our planet and people is vital for the health of all beings.
As a recognized nonprofit corporation created for the public good, it is supported by generous donations and grants. Copies of Whitefish Review are available by subscription or in bookstores, as well as for order online at www.whitefishreview.org.