qarrtsiluni

 

Detail from an Inuit stonecut by Leah Qumaluk, Pvungnituk

One of the most exciting things I've been doing lately has been helping the birth of a new cooperative blog, which has just gone live under the name qarrtsiluni, an Inuit word which means "waiting for something to burst". Like the Inuit hunters sitting together in the dark, waiting for the hymns and songs of power to burst forth from someone in the circle, the hope is that we -- bloggers sitting together in the virtual darkness of cyberspace -- can perhaps think about some  provocative themes each month and collaborate to create prose, poetry, and visual art in a way that combines the best collaborative and discussion qualities of blogging with a slower, more thoughtful pace of reading and writing. I hope you'll go over and take a look - there are initial contributions from Dave Bonta of Via Negativa, Jonathan of jonZphoto, myself, and some more to come -- and already some excellent comments.

Especially, I want to invite the readers of this blog to participate in this experiment. qarrtsiluni solicits your contributions and seeks to encourage all of us to do our very best work. It's also a chance for bloggers who usually write within a particular subject area or style to branch out into something different - anonymously, even - or for people who don't have a blog to write something occasionally. We hope that there will be a wide range of responses to the monthly themes, with no preconceptions except thoughtfulness, creativity, and quality - there are some editorial guidelines for contributors on the sidebar. We also hope the posts will encourage a lively discussion - but at a pace which allows for more reflection than is usual in the teeming world of blogs. In other words, it's kind of a blog, and kind of a literary magazine - something we hope will draw from the best of both!

Comments

[Rachel]

quarrtsiluni is such a beautiful blog. (and I love the woodcut you're using to illustrate this post!) I look forward to seeing what arises there in months to come.

[Marja-Leena]

Great image here, and what a wonderful name for your new endeavour. I had a look and was immediately captivated by both your writing and Dave's. What a great beginning and I look forward to visiting it regularly.

[beth]

Thanks for visiting! How about contributing something, Marja-Leena? Images are welcome as well as writing! (I'm quite serious about that; it would be great to see something from you.)

[Joerg]

This sounds like an interesting experiment and I'll make sure to visit regularly.