Catatonically Speaking: Occupy Clockwise Cat!

Breaking News: Clockwise Cat is going on hiatus.

What began about four and half years ago as a monthly webzine featuring a few scattered scribes, has evolved into something altogether more substantial, if less frequently appearing: an online seasonal periodical packed with content and showcasing some of the cleverest, coolest writers on the web.

Initially CCat had accepted fiction and art submissions as part of its purview, but as time wore on, it was less and less feasible for me, editor and publisher, to read so many fiction pieces. I felt that I was doing the fiction-writers a disservice, so I discontinued acceptance of those submissions. I also stopped actively soliciting art pieces, but still welcomed the random art submission and just incorporated any accepted pieces into the webzine as embellishments of the poems.

So the more focused CCat concentrated on poesie, polemics and appraisals - which basically echoed my own affinity for writing those pieces. I don't really dabble in fiction-scripting as I once did long ago, but I do love writing verse and invectives as well as reviews about books, film and music. And, as such, I love reading pieces that pervade such genres.

And of course, the overriding purpose of CCat during its short tenure has been to propagate progressive views and ideas. The rants, naturally, have emphasized political progressivism, while the reviews have emphasized art forms that have poilitically progressive content or that are inventive in some way. As for the verse, I have not so much solicited pieces that are overtly political, but that rather are innovative in form, content, or both. This is what is meant by progressivism: forward-thinking creativity that obstinately defies the status quo and engenders new concepts and modes of thinking.

Editing and publishing CCat been a wild ride, one that I do wish to perpetuate in the near future. I have reveled in the mostly top-notch submissions I have received, and indeed have learned and grown in ways that I never thought possible. Another reason I have wanted to manage a webzine was that I aimed to sublimate my own envy toward "savvier scribes." If I published them, the reasoning went, then I would be less likely to covet their talents. Instead I could admire them and learn from them.

And it's worked. Instead of morphing into verdant shades every time I peruse a stunningly well-crafted poem that subverts traditional forms, I now euphorically revere the piece to the point that I want to scrawl it on the walls all over town. But I reluctantly suppress my inner graffitti artist and plaster the poem onto the virtual surfaces of Clockwise Cat instead.

So yeah: publishing pieces that I wish I had the talent to write has really helped me quash the green demon. It's been an exercise in artistic catharsis. I have cleansed myself of envy and now can bask in others' gifts sans rancor.

But more than anything, I have simply enjoyed interacting with the amazing writers who populate these pages, and giving them a publishing venue. I have adored, especially, searching for images that aesthetically accompany a piece. Things I do not enjoy so much encompass the realm of HTML. Let's just say I am not exactly tech-savvy. It takes a lot of time to put an issue together (which is why we went seasonal), and tech issues have a lot to do with that.

So I am a bit burnt out. Plus, I want to focus on my own writing. I would like to publish more poetry, and I need time to concentrate on getting my rants out there as well.

But anyway. We are going on a hiatus of about eight months. Rest assured, however, that we will be back in the fall of 2012, most likely with renewed purpose and invigoration!

In the meantime, occupy your creative spirit!