Editor’s Welcome Summer 2024

This week, I have the honor of teaching in the Low-Residency MFA program at West Virginia Wesleyan College.  Most of the C7 staff has ties to Wesleyan: Melissa went to undergrad here; Doug teaches here and runs the MFA. Now I get to have a little connection too.  The graduate students are great—writers of all ages from all over, here to study and hone their craft—but what has made this residency extra special is that we are sharing the campus with the Governor’s School for the Arts. GSA is a summer program for WV high school students who are interested in pursuing the arts, be that creative writing, visual arts, dance, theatre, etc. There are over 100 of them milling around, and they attend all of the evening readings by MFA faculty.  I gave my reading on Saturday night (the first faculty member to go) and I admit I was a little nervous when I saw just how many high school students were sitting in the audience. And teenagers, in large groups? Scary.  I  had nothing to fear, though, because they were all incredible.  Attentive and interested and asked smart questions that made me think about my own work in a new way.

Some of the students came up to me after the reading, to ask me to sign a book or just say hi, and to tell me where they were from. One young person named Salem told me that they’d              never really thought about Appalachia or writing about their home place until this week. Then five came to tell me that they were all from Preston County (my home county) and how exciting and inspiring it was to meet someone from there who was a “real writer”. 

Sometimes it’s too easy to throw up your hands and say “Why even bother?”  Why write when it’s hard? Why send work out when it’s likely to get rejected, and rejection hurts? Why put together a journal like Change Seven when we don’t even know if anyone reads it?

But then, I’m around these young artists, even for just a couple hours, and I remember: Oh, right.  That’s why.  They are full of excitement and hope and promise. They’re ready to take on the world and make beautiful, meaningful things, and what does this chaotic world need more than that right now? And I’m an artist too, and so is Melissa, and so is Doug, and so are you.  We do it for those kids; we do it for ourselves;  we do it for the world. 

Everyone gets burned out, and that’s what’s happened here, just a little bit. Melissa, Doug, and I love Change Seven, and feel so honored that you have trusted us with your work; however, we need a break.  We’re going to pause, take a breather, reassess, and decide where to go from here.  We’re going to rest.  Work on our own writing projects, and come back to Change Seven, hopefully, with the excitement and energy of a high school kid at art camp. 

Don’t forget that you can access back issues of C7 here, in the archives.  

Without further ado, here it is: Summer, 2024.  

Thank you,

Natalie