By The Editors

We recently had the chance to chat with the intrepid Jess Burgess, director of Dogtown Dance Theatre in Richmond, Virginia, where Quail Bell was founded. Admittedly, it's hard for us to turn down the opportunity to hear what badass ladies have to say. So when a Dogtown staff member reached out to us, we bit. Curious about this dance haven and the inspiring woman who runs the show? Then read on!

What's your elevator pitch for Dogtown Dance Theatre?

​Dogtown Dance Theatre’s sole purpose is to provide independent dance artists with resources and opportunities to help transform Richmond into a destination for exceptional, professional dance. To make this a reality, Dogtown created the Artist Resource Program to provide artists with the tools, monetary stipends, performance opportunities, and industry knowledge to alleviate the financial and professional burdens that are associated with self-producing art. Our goal is to educate and create a community of artists that have the skills necessary to sustain a vibrant independent choreographic voice in RVA.

By Raymond Greiner

As we slip quietly beyond the half-century mark vistas change. Memories move to the forefront and dreams become complex. During formative years carefully configured social outlines are presented to guide us.
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I was born in 1940, which was considered the last year identified as Depression Era babies. We lived in West Virginia until I was eleven, then moved to Marion, Ohio where my dad found a better job. West Virginia didn’t really feel the effects of the Depression, as it historically has been a poor state with fewer economic opportunities than more industrialized states. Deprivation was nothing new in West Virginia. Neighboring states were more affected by Depression years as they were reliant on factory employment, which crashed during the Great Depression. In 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, trigging American involvement in World War II. This event changed everything. Factories began manufacturing military hardware funded by the government. My memory activated around age four and I vaguely remember radio newscasts describing war events.
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By The Editors

Great photography captures both what is on the surface and the many interpretations of the world as we see it. Michael E. Ruiz, a landscape and wildlife photographer based out of Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland, balances the raw elements of nature with the man-made architecture that captivates so many people. 

We spoke with Ruiz about how his love of nature and Cuban culture manifest in his own work as well as what stories he hopes to tell with the work he has done so far. 

By The Editors

Have you seen our new Facebook fundraiser? We are getting things going for Her Plumage, our third anthology and need your help!
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By The Editors

Executive editor Gretchen Gales has published her first piece about living with Tourette's Syndrome in Blanket Sea Magazine, a magazine dedicated to highlighting voices from the disability community. 
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By Gretchen Gales

The 52nd annual Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference kick offs today at 12:00pm in Portland, Oregon. ​

By Ghia Vitale

​I’m autosexual (sexually attracted to myself) and autoromantic (romantically attracted to myself.) In other words, I’m in a relationship with myself. In the spirit of my self-engagement anniversary, I’d like to talk about 3 benefits I experience from being in a relationship with myself:

By Raymond Greiner

​Today I have been thinking about geometric patterns and shapes, their intention and purpose, the obvious, the less obvious, and those which are more ambiguous.  I’m thinking about geometry’s vast and profusely influential melding with Earth’s functions and living forms, as patterns and shapes release intentional, visual pulsations activating myriad energizing forces, which directly affect all earthly life forms.
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By Gretchen Gales

As a native Southerner, I appreciate authentic approaches to our unique genre of music, folktales, and other art. The South has many rich and many complicated legacies. All That Held Us by Henrietta Goodman, winner of the John Ciardi Prize for Poetry, is a fresh new take on that same legacy, but from a personal and feminine standpoint. 
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By The Editors

Wowzers, we really are doing this!!! Thanks to Eudaimonia Press, new Quail Bell Magazine magic will be hitting bookshelves this summer. We're excited to use the proceeds from our anthology Her Plumage to benefit the non-profit She is Rising. Above is the cover art, created by Quail Bell founder Christine Sloan Stoddard. Learn more about Her Plumage and details on how to order it this summer at www.eudaimoniapress.org.