The Art of the Possible

A solo aerialist with feminist circuses in Australia takes us with her as she defies gravity and social expectations; a lesbian poet leads us downward into a hell of childhood sexual torture and back out again, transformed; a novelist shares with us her journey to Sardegna, where landscape and ruins evoke ancient memories; a Korean feminist takes us along on the extraordinary life journey that led her to discover the anciently originated gynocentric matrix of the Far East which she has named Magoism; a poet turns an old story into a moment of comic relief; a scholar and practitioner in the women’s spirituality movement explores hidden aspects of feminist history and urges us to breach the taboo on the occult; and a poet explores her childhood friendship with the girl she felt she had always known. Come with us as Trivia contributors practice the art of the possible by leaping across time and space, refusing false choices, and expanding the limits of the real.

At a time of nightmare news, when the karmic debt of 5000-odd years of patriarchal civilizations seems to be coming due all at once, we’re startled and delighted by the energy and high purpose and imagination of the work in this sixth issue of Trivia: Voices of Feminism. We’re also delighted by the way Trivia’s readership is expanding. The number of “unique visitors” to the site has gone up dramatically over the past 18 months, and their geographic distribution covers seemingly every continent and region (China, India, Estonia, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, on and on). While U.S.A.-based visitors predominate heavily, their number 15 times greater than 2nd-place Canada, it is clearly untrue that Trivia reaches only North American readers. It now is reaching out to the world.

The art of letter-writing, an art that in the past has been particularly cherished and practiced by women, is somewhat pushed to the margins by high-speed communications. Letters (to the editors, to Trivia readers, to a particular author, to “the world”) can be e-mailed them to and we’ll post them for you.

Also, If you’d like to receive an e-mail announcement when a new issue of Trivia is published, or when a call for contributions goes out, please send your name and e-mail address to that same editorial address, .

We hope that this issue of Trivia, “The Art of the Possible,” will inspire you, expand your world, and transmit a contagion of courage.


We encourage writers who wanted to contribute to this issue and didn't get around to it to send us material for future issues. As always, we invite contributions to our TRIVIAL LIVES column, which features feminist writers, artists and activists, living or departed, whose work has not been given the recognition it deserves. Please see our submission guidelines.

 


issue 6 • Sept. 2007

Korean Triple Goddess image

The Art of the Possible

Harriet Ellenberger
Lise Weil
Editorial

Susan Hawthorne
The Aerial Lesbian Body: The Politics of Physical Expression

Elliott Femynye batTzedek
Wanting A Gun

Mary Saracino
Red Poppies Among the Ruins

Hye Sook Hwang
Returning Home with Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia

TRIVIAL LIVES:
Ellen M. Taylor
Noah's Wife

Marguerite Rigoglioso
Reclaiming the Spooky: Matilda Joslyn Gage and Mary Daly as Radical Pioneers of the Esoteric

Elizabeth Alexander
Grand Right & Left     

Notes on Contributors

 

Sotae, a symbol that once acknowledged the presence of the triadic Goddess Mago and her two daughters (Mago Samsin), is still found in Korean villages and folk cultures. The original image source unknown.