Deep End of the Talent Pool
Words can express the creativity of entrants in our annual writing contest. But hurry!
One of the many things that sets Southwest New Mexico apart from most of the rest of the country is our high concentration of creative people. Oh, I know that every place likes to think of itself as "the Athens of (fill in the blank)." Somewhere, I'm sure, there's a burg that bills itself as "the Athens of west-central Nebraska" or "the Athens of America's sorghum-growing belt." And each outpost of civilization always imagines that it somehow combines the best of the Algonquin round table, the salons of Paris and the Medicis' Florence.
Honestly, though, this place simply teems with talent. In our line of work, producing Desert Exposure, we stumble across it every day. I often think of the example of Phil Stephens, whom I wrote about back in November 2005 ("Tools for Living") when he was donating an entire woodworking shop to the Niño a Niño project in Oaxaca, Mexico. Formerly on the faculty of the University of Denver, Stephens had spent the previous couple of years in Silver City creating original, heirloom-quality furniture pieces under the name of "L.C. Crow." His work had been shown in Angel Fire and Santa Fe, NM, Scottsdale, Ariz., Aspen and Castle Rock, Colo., as well as locally. Now he was moving on from woodworking to concentrate on painting—equally artistic contemporary retablo-like creations on wood. But what really struck me and stuck with me was that Stephens was also a highly accomplished writer. In fact, we'd seen Leonard Nimoy perform as Vincent Van Gogh, years ago at the renowned Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, in a play written by Phil Stephens. The very same guy who was now hanging up his woodworking career to embark on a third (at least!) artistic career. Now that's talent.
But the multitalented Phil Stephens is just one example. The7y're everywhere. In this very issue, for instance, we celebrate the career of Silver City artist Harry Benjamin (see story), who has made his mark as a potter and as a painter; you can admire his skill at the latter on this issue's cover. Way back in the September 2003 issue, we wrote about another talented potter, Kate Brown; now this Mimbres Valley artist is also gaining renown as an animator. "Ursa Dream," a six-minute animated film Brown created, was selected by the New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT) as one of eight movies to be shown in a special independent film program at the Hamptons International Film Festival, Oct. 18-22. And Brown was introduced to animation with the help of still another multitalented area resident, artist and filmmaker Ralph Bakshi (see the July 2003 issue).
Being surrounded with such talent makes our jobs putting together Desert Exposure much easier. Each issue, we just dip our toes into the talent pool and share something wonderful with our readers. We celebrate the region's visual artists every month in our Arts Exposure section, of course. Periodically we similarly profile notable musicians, too. We also try to cover whenever one of our talented area authors publishes a new book (such as Bob Swisher's latest, spotlighted in this issue's Tumbleweeds section). But doing justice to local literary talent in particular can be trickier than covering the visual-arts scene. What do you show? We can't just plop a thousand words from somebody's new novel on our cover. Even excerpting literary works inside an issue—which we've done—can pose pitfalls, as not all excerpts necessarily can stand alone, apart from the work as a whole. Besides, we mostly write about creative folks, rather than publishing works by them (our creative and talented contributing writers and columnists aside, that is).
So each year we devote most of our September issue to the local literary scene, publishing the best submissions not only of articles but also of essays, short fiction and poetry. Writers don't have to be a polymath or multitalented Renaissance man like a Phil Stephens to submit their work, however; they need not even have published a book—or anything, for that matter. Works are judged strictly on literary merit and on how well they reflect some aspect of life here in Desert Exposure country. (It's not even necessary to live here, as several once and future residents of Southwest New Mexico have been winners.)
Best of all, there are prizes. As a longtime contributor and former editorial director of Writer's Digest magazine, I know that "getting published" represents the holy grail for many aspiring writers—never mind any payment. But it's also nice for the winners in our annual writing contest to be able to buy a celebratory lunch in honor of their accomplishment, so we honor four runners-up with $25 prizes each. The grand prize winner can buy dinner and maybe then some, as our top prize is $100.
Since the winners appear in our September edition, you may be wondering why I'm going on about the annual writing contest now, in July. That's because the entry deadline is this month—July 18. So if you're a writer who yearns to show your stuff, run—don't walk—to the keyboard and get cracking!
You can enter more than one piece of writing, and all non-winning entries will nonetheless be considered for future publication at our regular rates. Length is wide open, though anything longer than 10,000 words would be problematic. After publication in Desert Exposure and on our Web site at www.desertexposure.com, all other rights revert to the author. That's right—when your sonnet gets optioned for a major motion picture starring Kevin Costner because Kevin saw it in Desert Exposure, we won't ask for a dime.
Submitting your entry couldn't be easier. (Writing it, that's the hard part.) Mail to Desert Exposure Writing Contest, PO Box 191, Silver City, NM 88062, or email to contest@desertexposure.com. If you choose to email your entry, you can either paste it into the body of an email or attach as a Word, RTF or text file. In any case, make sure to include your name (and nom de plume, if you prefer) and complete contact information so we can tell you the good news if you're a winner (and send your check!). Oh, and make sure to keep a copy of your writing submission, since entries can't be returned.
So go ahead, make our—and our readers'—day. Show us why you and your writing talent are yet another reason why this is "the Athens of the states that were added to the US after the Mexican War, plus the Gadsden Purchase."
Meet the President?
Some free advice for Gov. Bill Richardson the next time "Meet the Press" calls.
Like playing a TV game show, we're sure that appearing on "Meet the Press" looks easier than it really is. At home, we can spout the answers (well, technically the "questions") on "Jeopardy" with a rapid-fire accuracy that would make all-time champ Ken Jennings envious. On the actual set, under the blazing TV lights, with host Alex Trebek grilling us live and in person . . . maybe not.
Surely, being grilled by "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert is similarly harder than it appears. In the Sunday-newspaper-scattered comfort of home, sipping our 12th or 13th cup of coffee (after 10 we lose count), we know perfectly well how the recent parade of 2008 presidential candidates should answer Russert's high hard ones to knock 'em out of the park. Here's how to handle the haircut question, John Edwards! Here's how not to sound like you have no convictions whatsoever, Mitt Romney, even if you don't! Under the lights, however, it must be much tougher.
Still, we can't help second-guessing Gov. Bill Richardson's star turn on "Meet the Press" a few weeks ago. And even though that Sunday-morning broadcast is already ancient history, in TV time, we think it's worth revisiting because Richardson's performance pointed up a fundamental problem with his 2008 presidential bid.
Simply put, our governor-turned-White House aspirant has a problem with the facts. Especially uncomfortable ones.
Now, this isn't by any means fatal to a candidate's presidential ambitions. Look at Bill Clinton, whose "but I didn't inhale" equivocation about his youthful marijuana use is enshrined in the campaign-waffling hall of fame. Heck, consider George Bush, who somehow got re-elected in the midst of a war he launched almost entirely on half-truths and disinformation, while ignoring the uncomfortable pre-war warnings of his own intelligence service. A more cautionary model, admittedly, would be the 2004 nominee of Richardson's party, John Kerry, whose tangled explanation of his Iraq war position made "I didn't inhale" look like a masterstroke of straight talk.
We're not even talking about the slippery truth regarding that Iraq soldier's mom and what she did or did not say to Richardson, a maybe-imaginary anecdote the governor has nonetheless been repeating at campaign stops from Des Moines to Manchester. After all, Ronald Reagan made up most of the stories he presented as fact, and he not only got re-elected but is halfway to Mount Rushmore.
No, Bill Richardson has a problem with uncomfortable facts about himself.
So permit us a bit of Monday-morning quarterbacking on Richardson's awkward "Meet the Press" inquisition. We offer this advice free of charge, in hopes that the governor might benefit from our admittedly amateur viewpoint the next time he must field any of these questions. And we guarantee, as long as his White House bid has any life at all, he'll get these questions again. (Which begs the question, of course, of why he wasn't better prepared for them, with snappy rejoinders, before facing Russert.)
The key, it seems to us from the comfort of our Sunday-morning easy chair, is to be succinct. If you screwed up, admit it and move on—Americans admire a candidate who'll own up to his mistakes (unlike, say, the current White House resident). Don't hem and haw. Fess up, then fire back.
Take the issue of Richardson's resume claim to have been "drafted" as a pitcher by the major leagues. When Russert quizzed him about it, Richardson could have amiably deflected the whole silly thing with a slight spin on how he actually responded: "Well, Tim, this was in the early days of the baseball draft, and I wassigned by the Houston Colt .45s, so I assumed that meant I'd been drafted. When I later learned otherwise, yes, I should have corrected that. But, honestly Tim, can you say you've never inflated your resume a little to get a job?"
More substantively, Richardson's defense of his record as energy secretary was tortuous. The Wen Ho Lee nuclear-secrets case was a mess, and Richardson should accept responsibility: "You're right, Tim, I made mistakes in that case and I regret them. I want the American people to know that when I do screw up—and, being only human, I will—I'll own up to my mistakes and do whatever it takes to set things right. That's unlike the current administration, whose failure to admit its tragic mistakes in Iraq continues to cost American lives. . . ."
Similarly, Richardson can't have it both ways on gun control. His "I'm a Western governor . . . it's a cultural heritage" blather won't cut it, especially coupled with an incomprehensible equivocation on the assault-weapons ban that Richardson evidently voted for even though he was against it. (You could almost hear the ghost of John Kerry rattling his chains in the "Meet the Press" green room.) Truth is, gun control is not a make-or-break issue any more with most Democrats or most Americans, even though a large majority favor such no-brainer restrictions as on assault weapons. Richardson is the National Rifle Association's favorite candidate in either party; he might as well make the most of it—no apologies.
So when Russert asked Richardson how he'd feel about being endorsed by the NRA, the governor should have grinned and shot back: "You know, Tim, if a few thousand gun owners in Florida had voted for the Democrat in 2000, I'd be running right now to succeed Al Gore in the White House."
One more bit of free advice. Sometimes, Governor, the facts can actually help you handle a tough question. When Russert or somebody else asks you about your energy policy, which calls for upping mileage standards to 50 mpg and which the Detroit News says would "bankrupt" the US auto industry, try this answer: "The Toyota Prius already gets almost 50 miles a gallon, Tim, so I don't think that's asking too much of automakers."
We hope this helps as the long 2008 campaign unfolds. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle to tackle. Talk about tough questions!
David A. Fryxell is editor of Desert Exposure.