Western Releases Issue #72 of ’The Bellingham Review;’ Journal Makes its Debut at the Oxford Literary Festival

The Bellingham Review, the literary journal of Western Washington University, just published its 72nd issue and, for the first time, was displayed at the Oxford Literary Festival in Oxford, United Kingdom during the first week in April.

The special section being introduced this issue features solely Hong Kong writers.  The review’s editor, Western Washington University Professor of English Susanne Paola Antonetta, who has taught creative writing in Hong Kong, worked with Hong Kong writer Xu Xi to solicit important writers from that city to contribute to the journal. Most chose to reflect on the recent turmoil in Hong Kong over the right to free and fair elections, and many of the works published in this section deal directly with the Occupy Hong Kong movement – which took several cues from the American Occupy Movement – and highlights this event through the voices of those who experienced it. 

The section also moves the journal away from being solely a Pacific Northwest publication to one that highlights other voices and styles as they emerge from other cultures. Future special sections will include new women’s writing from Canada and new voices from Israel and Palestine.

Antonetta said the journal’s international focus was one reason the review was chosen to be displayed at the Oxford Literary Festival last week and again later this fall at the Hong Kong Literary Festival.

“I was really blown away by the quality of the writing in this issue, in the work from Hong Kong, and the writing from within the United States,” said Antonetta. “For instance, the humor of the protestors dressing as American superheroes in the essay ‘Everyone Could Be Batman’ gives a wonderful insight into the idealism of those Occupy protestors.”

Issue #73, which features cover art by well-known Bellingham artist Susan Bennerstrom, is available for sale through its website, www.bhreview.org, or at Village Books in Fairhaven or the WWU Associated Students Bookstore on campus.

For more information about Issue #72 of The Bellingham Review, contact Susanne Paola Antonetta at Suzanne.paola@wwu.edu.