This is our third Christmas edition. It feels significant, and I'm not sure why. The number three? In any case, I was prompted to go back through our pages and if you'll forgive what sounds remarkably like (alright it is) a large dose of self-congratulation, here are some of the people who we've been lucky enough to feature over the last three years: Paul Muldoon, Raymond Antrobus, Julia Copus, Nick Coleman, Ilya Kaminsky, Billy Bragg, Pema Chödrön, Martin Parr, David Harsent, Charles Shaar Murray, Hugo Williams, Colm Toibin, John Burnside, Lydia Davis, Ali Smith, Gillian Clarke, Will Eaves, Hilary Mantel, Greil Marcus, Elena Ferrante, Tony Visconti, Mark Doty, Yuval Noah Harari, Nick Cave, Tishani Doshi, Wayne Holloway-Smith and Anne Carson. These are just our famous names. I was going to say that the many great writers and artists who we have also featured are just as important, but that's wrong: they (you) are even more vital to what we do here than are our well-known contributors. What I've discovered over the last three years is that there's an awful lot of you out there, all writing poems and stories and creating works of art that deserve much more exposure than you're currently getting.
Which, of course, is where we come in. We are passionate about your work and determined, moreover, only to publish material that can hold its head up next to all of those names above. It's a testament to you all that we have received so much of it. What's more, I can tell, by looking at our stats, that you are being read by a significant amount of people. Word is getting out and I'm sure that people are genuinely appreciating everything that you do. But you know what? I think that more is possible. Please spread the word. Use all of the virtual platforms that you have and keep putting us under people's noses. What we're doing is worthwhile, and we see no reason why we can't continue doing it for years to come. In the current issue, we're delighted to feature a new poem by John Burnside, as well as an article by Geoff Dyer, a Christmas message from Steve Nieve, poems by Tess Gallagher and Nobel Prize-winner Louise Glück, a film by Mark Cousins, photographs by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen and contributions from David Harsent, Gillian Clarke, Julia Copus, Will Eaves and Martin Parr. Also gracing our pages are Jo Balmer, Finlay Hay and Hattie McGregor, Swansea Sound, Steve Shepherd, Fran Lock, Dickon Bevington, Martin Russell, Louise Peterkin, Hélène Demetriades, Paul Fenn, Louise Longson, Stephen Boyce, Jamie O'Halloran, Ben Morgan, Richard Skinner, Agnes Marton, Maggie Sawkins, Helen Petts, Rebecca Johnson-Bista, Shannon Hardwick, Wendy Pratt, Jim Lloyd, Phil Miller, Charline Lambert (translated by John Taylor), Kaylen Forsyth, Osip Mandelstam (translated by Alistair Noon), Carla Sarett, Katy Aisenberg, Matt Dennison, Jay Klokker, Finola Scott, Moira Walsh, Aaron Lembo, Rob A. MacKenzie and Noah Rasheta. Please read them all; they certainly deserve your serious attention.
Finally, I'd like you to raise a glass and toast yourselves. It's been another crappy year. But at least you're all still managing to create what, here at One Hand Clapping, we truly value. Great work, that is. Terrific art. Let's all keep helping each other to help as many people as we can value that too.
Alan Humm