I received my print copy of Issue 17 today. It’s a fat one– 108 pages! And it is, as always, beautiful. The art on the cover and inside are interpretations of poetic forms by Scott Helmes, an artist who introduced himself to us at AWP in Minneapolis. I was quite pleased to find his work had been selected by our Art Director.

Make sure you check out Brad Guillory‘s piece, “Lyrics and Panic: The time my mom found my tapes and the devil,” it is really funny and perfect for October. He put a link to both of the TV specials he refers to in the piece on his website. And we have a 24-frames piece this issue, a real monster. It is so long, it really should be a Feature, but we’re thrilled to have Ben Winterhalter‘s amazing writing for this department.

If you write true stories about film (or music or food!), check out Under the Gum Tree. October is open submission month, which means there is no fee to submit.

Please mark your calendars for #gumtreelive! On October 21 at 5 pm Pacific time, you can join a handful of our Issue 17 contributors on a Google Hangout as they read excerpts from their pieces to celebrate this new issue. More information is at the Under the Gum Tree Facebook page.

Thanks for your support!