You are holding the second issue of Route 7 Review. Our editorial team sifted through numerous submissions in the year since the publication’s launch, looking for the most outstanding creative and critical material submitted by authors from around the world. Ultimately we decided to run a single poem, two flash fictions, and a pair of critical essays that address gender and the position of women in western society. In addition, we solicited an interview with Derrick Bostrom, former drummer for the punk rock band Meat Puppets, and memoir pieces from Laurence Jackson Hyman (a musician and photographer), Tom Hunley (a poet), and Joseph McBride (a screenwriter and historian), asking them to discuss the individuals and incidents that prompted them to pursue their careers as artists and writers. Toward the back of the journal, you will also find a series of reviews, including William Nesbitt’s survey of works by and about such Beat writers as Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Jack Kerouac, and Gary Snyder. Much like the Beats, Route 7 Review sets out to challenge the status quo and deliver poetry and prose that are intellectually rigorous and entertaining. With this issue, we’re confident we’ve succeeded.

 

 

—The Editors