January 2011

As we leave 2010, I can’t help but reflect upon how my conception of art and the overall aesthetic of Fogged Clarity have shifted over the past two years. When we began this project, the unifying theme behind the journal was to publish work that was a response to, or expression of, hurt. I recognize now how narrow that vision was, but also appreciate that it was a reflection of my own experience at the time. In actuality, editing Fogged Clarity has brought me anything but hurt, and putting together these issues every month has become my lifeblood. I continue to be inspired by the imagination and skill of our contributors, the dedication of our staff, and the receptiveness of our audience, and as both myself and the journal have grown, I’ve come to know art for what it is: a celebration of life and the human condition.

This month, we are pleased to offer a rare interview with songwriter and actor Will Oldham, exclusive studio sessions by Bonnie “Prince” Billy and The Great Unknown, new poems by Mara Michael Jebsen and Jesse Schweppe, the photography of Julian Hibbard and Martin Miller, stories by Kathie Giorgio and J.T. Bushnell, and much more.

Happy New Year, we look forward to spending it with you.

Benjamin Evans
Executive Editor, Fogged Clarity

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• Kathie GiorgioKathie Giorgio is an author living in Wisconsin. Her fiction has appeared in Harpur Palate, Fiction International, Dos Passos Review, Bayou, Eclipse, Potomac Review, Hurricane Review, and Bellowing Ark, among many other journals. Her first novel, The Home For Wayward Clocks, will be released this January by Main Street Rag. Lap Dog
• J.T. BushnellJ.T. Bushnell received his MFA from The University of Oregon. His fiction has appeared in Mississippi Review, The Greensboro Review, The South Carolina Review, Meridian, and other journals. His book reviews appear regularly in Western American Literature and Fiction Writers Review. What Adults Do

• Mara Michael JebsenMara Michael Jebsen is a poet, essayist, singer and storyteller based in Brooklyn. She teaches essay writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Mara is a 2009 New York Foundation for the Arts fellow in poetry and recently completed a collection of poems entitled The Panorama Angels. She is now at work on the vanishing point, a piece of storytelling/theatre.Mirages
• Jesse SchweppeJesse Schweppe is a poet living in Maine. His work has appeared in The Paris Review, Poetry, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. The Funeral of Henry von Reuter
• Martin BalgachMartin Balgach holds an MFA from Vermont College and works for a publishing company in Boulder. His writing and criticism has appeared or is forthcoming in The Bitter Oleander, Cream City Review, Margie: The American Journal of Poetry, Many Mountains Moving, Opium Magazine, Poetry Miscellany, Rain Taxi, and elsewhere.Too Much Breath
• Ruth FoleyRuth Foley lives in Massachusetts, where she teaches English for Wheaton College. Her recent work is appearing or forthcoming in River Styx, Measure, The Ghazal Page, and Umbrella. She also serves as Associate Poetry Editor for Cider Press Review.Hard Frost
• Sid MillerSid Miller is the author of two full-length poetry collections: Nixon on the Piano (David Robert Books, 2009) and Dot-to-Dot, Oregon (Ooligan Press, 2009). In the fall of 2010, he was the writer-in-residence at the Sitka Center for the Arts. He is the founder and editor of the literary journal, Burnside Review. Dent
• Clarissa OlivarezClarissa Olivarez is an artist and poet living in the Washington, D.C. area. Her photography has appeared in inscape, joyful!, Juked, and is forthcoming in POESY. Her writing has been published in Haggard & Halloo, Counterexample Poetics, and Blood Lotus.Excavation, The Dig

• Jack RadcliffeJack Radcliffe is a Professor of Photography at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. He was the recipient of multiple grants from the Baltimore City Arts Council and was nominated for the New York Times Press Award “Picture of the Year” in 2000. His work has been featured in many publications including the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, The Photo Review and the Russian edition of Esquire. His photography is part of multiple permanent collections across the country including that of The Baltimore Museum of Art, the University of Arkansas Art Gallery, and Corcoran Gallery of Art in Wasington, DC. Alison
• Martin MillerMartin Miller is a photographer and writer represented by Galerie Gora in Montreal. His many accolades include a feature in Slanted magazine, a double nomination for the Professional Fine Art category in the Photography Masters Cup, and a nomination for the Professional Fine Art category in the 2010 Black and White Spider Awards. Weapons of Mass Destruction, a Visual Perspective
• I Am War
• Julian HibbardJulian Hibbard is an English photographer whose work has been exhibited in London, Scotland, Santiago, NYC and Los Angeles. His work has been published in Elle, Label, Surface Magazine, Wallpaper, Flavorwire, Popular Mechanics, Honey, 180 Magazine, Pictured, Spin, The New York Times Style Magazine, and many others. Awards and honorary mentions include the 4th Annual Photography Masters Cup, the 2008 International Photography Awards, a 2007 ASME Award for the Popular Mechanics “Survival” story and selection for the 4th Annual Surface Magazine Avant Guarde Competition. His first book, The Noir A-Z, was published in 2009. A second title is scheduled for release in 2011. The Noir A-Z
• Dominik SmialowskiDominik Smialowski is a Polish photographer living and working in Warsaw. He has received multiple awards for his work, including the Grand Prix in photography from Pstrykaliada and his work has been published in multiple publications including the cover story for Polish monthly FOTO. Missing Garden

• Bonnie “Prince” BillyBonnie “Prince” Billy is the musical incarnation of actor and songwriter Will Oldham. Since 1998, he has released fourteen solo and collaborative albums, the latest of which is, The Wonder Show of the World, recorded with The Cairo Gang.The Fogged Clarity Session
• The Great UnknownThe Great Unknown is a Philadelphia alt-country band composed of Todd Henkin, Jordan Berger, Matt Goldsborough, and Brad Jacobson.The Fogged Clarity Session
• The New Skin EP

• Will OldhamWill Oldham is a musician and actor living in Louisville, Kentucky. Since 1993, he has released over twenty albums as Palace Brothers, Palace Music, Palace Songs, and the pseudonym under which he has recorded for the past twelve years, Bonnie “Prince” Billy. As an actor, Oldham has appeared in the films Junebug, Wendy and Lucy, and Old Joy, among others.opines on music, philosophy, and everything in between
• The Great UnknownThe Great Unknown is a Philadelphia alt-country band composed of Todd Henkin, Jordan Berger, Matt Goldsborough, and Brad Jacobson.discuss making music with school children

• Scott HightowerScott Hightower is a poet living with one foot in New York City, one in Texas, and one in Madrid. His third collection, Part of the Bargain, received the 2004 Hayden Carruth Award. His translations from Spanish have garnered him a Willis Barnstone Translation Prize. He teaches at NYU, and has taught poetry, non-fiction, and translation at Drew, F.I.T., Fordham, and Poets House.Jeanne Marie Beaumont’s, “Burning of the Three Fires”
• Sawnie MorrisSawnie Morris is winner of the 2010 Poetry Society of America’s Bogin Award. Her chapbook, Matapolvo Rain appears in The Sound a Raven Makes, (Tres Chicas Books, 2006), winner of the 2007 New Mexico Book Award. She teaches literature and poetry writing workshops at the University of New Mexico’s extended campus in Taos.Catherine Strisik’s, “Thousand-Cricket Song”