A tale of striking lines and haunting narratives
A horse struck by lightning and survives, a misfit uncle who lives in an attic and an ape in bed clothes:
These were a few of the memorable elements in the literary entries for “Critical Mass 4,” the ambitious, ongoing project for furthering critical dialogue in the arts, organized by the Shreveport Regional Art Council and artspace. The spectrum of forms was full: fiction, memoir and poetry. The range of genres was wide: from science fiction to family memoir to poems that were both philosophical and deeply personal.
As in any competition such as this, eclecticism reigns. But strong entries outnumbered lesser ones. Fortunately, the quality of a few entries was so high that choosing a “Best of Show” was extremely difficult.
Ashley Mace Havird inched out others with the first chapter of her novel “Lightningstruck,” and it will be the subject of an exhibition at artspace in July. (It is scheduled for publication from Mercer University Press.) Her prose works magic on many levels: as a coming of age story for a girl on a farm, as the tale of a family across generations and as a tale about the power of nature.
A horse, which survives a lightning strike, becomes central to how the young protagonist, Etta McDaniel, feels about her world. She is informed the horse is blind and keeps telling their housekeeper, Cleo, this is the case. But at the close of the chapter, Etta discovers otherwise – and conveys this revelation hauntingly: “It occurred to me that somehow the stark raving madness of the world, which had seemed for almost a year now to keep me off balance, lived in this gruesome horse, whose one good eye, so Cleo said, was evil. Nodding like a drunkard, Troy rolled his good eye until it settle on me and focused, locked me in his vision and kept me there.”
There were other stories with a sure sense of style and strong narrative pull, such as Susan Duke’s “Learning to Swim” and Mike Sledge’s “Gerald’s Star,” Julie Kane’s beautifully told remembrance of her Uncle Dick “Good Turtles,” is also a poignant tale of the narrator, from girlhood to womanhood.
The abundance of strong poetry was a distinguishing quality of this competition. Katie Bickham, awarded a Best of Show in 2014, was equally affecting in new poems such as “The Good News,” a profound meditation on the daily count of babies entering the world. April Clark Honaker achieved a balance between comic absurdities and philosophical observations in a group of poems, some inspired by the paintings of Joshua Chambers – including “Thin Sheets,” which features the ape in bed clothes. June Rose Dowis’ “The Weight of the World” meditated on the conceit of a moment and how it might change a life, including hers.
“Ten minutes can alter/your soul,” she concluded.
The best of the works in “Critical Mass 4” contained lines, thoughts and stories that were just as striking.
Nationally renowned critic Robert L. Pincus, Ph.D., is a former critic for the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Tribune.