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“Aesthetica Magazine - The magazine begins with the...”

written by Bessie on 09/09/2004

Good Points
This magazine welcomes a new generation of poetry, fiction, and artwork. The magazine has a high quality of work as well as production. There is careful thought and consideration to the order, however, not an over-bearing editorial presence.

The magazine publishes contemporary writing and has no pretensions like you find in some literary magazines.

The magazine is good value for money. The style is simple, classic, and elegant.It is a breath of fresh air.

Bad Points
I do not have anything negative to say about this publication.

General Comments
Aesthetica Magazine - The magazine begins with the standard editor note/letter:



'Look around you, look at the diversity, and look at the beauty. This world is synergized, pulsating, and breathing great inhalations of variation. This is a wonderful thing.' Cherie Federico.



The first poem that really jumps out at me is Aryan Kaganof's Tombstone Dues. The poem focuses on the disillusion of modern life coupled with September 11th. The poem breathes a complex aspiration of modernity and humanity in South Africa.



Kaganof introduces the poem with, 'I woke up at nine but stayed in bed until after eleven on the morning of The Beginning Of The End.I did not know it then I was thinking about my baby, how far away she was.' From this stanza we can imagine the bed and the distance.



Another poem was E. M. Hunter Scott's 'Deep and Black.' It has an excellent rhythm that takes you on a journey. Hunter writes,



'Deep and Black. Deep and Black

she ran over the stones

Deep and Black Deep and Black

she sang to the sea

Deep and Black Deep and Black

carried my lover away from me.'


The movement of the words replicates the sea. You can imagine a rocking boat.



There is also humour in Aestheitca in the form of Haiku by Owen Roberts. He writes,



'YOUTH


stuck

at a kitchen table

with two 16 year old

teenagers



the room is large

and the conversation

is very small'


All I can say about that is that we have all been there at one stage or another. There seems to be a balance throughout the poetry section that mixes the serious with the smooth and the funny with the meloncholy. Aesthetica celebrates the true meaning of poetry in all its many forms and varieties. It something that you will return to over and over again.



The fiction begins with a piece called 'The Black Road' written by Victoria Whelan. It is almost Poe like with its dark underlying moments. It takes place in Yorkshire on a winter day. The story sends chills down your spine. This followed with Sue Hyams' 'Virus', which tricks the reader until the very end with a cliffhanger. It is the type of story with the voice made so accessible that for 20 minutes you become the main character and live out her fate. It brings your imagination to its knees.



The artwork is fantastic with examples of fine art and photography.



All in all this issue of Aesthetica is a pleasure to read and breathes new life into the genre. It is great to see nearly 80 writers/artists from all over the world together in one volume.