Bear River Review Inaugural Issue 2006

The reason the Bear River Writers’ Conference exists is to encourage new writing. It only makes sense that we do what we can to help some of that work find an audience. Here we’ve created a space for people who have been a part of the conference to share their writing with their colleagues and with any other reader who may stumble across it. We hope people enjoy the work and find it helpful with their own projects. Enter and have some fun!! ~Keith Taylor, Director

Anne-Marie Oomen - Featured Writer in the Bear River Review Inaugural Issue

We proudly announce our featured writer for this inaugural issue of the Bear River Review is Anne-Marie Oomen. She wrote prolifically while in Keith Taylor’s workshop at the Bear River Writers’ Conference in 2002, and continues to inspire all of us. Anne-Marie’s three prose story/poems, “Night Fire,” “The Shaping Stone,” and “His Workshop” were modeled after Keith Taylor’s Life Science stories and her short story, “Nines,” was also written while in Keith’s workshop. “Night Fire” and “His Workshop” were previously published in Dunes Review, December 2002, Volume 7, Issue 2.

The Bear River Review stems from the Grand Finale on the last night of the Bear River Writers’ Conference, where those who wish to read the work they have just created are invited to do so. The work inspires, rouses the audience, leaves us wanting more. While listening to the writers, I am reminded age and gender are irrelevant; consciousness is neither old nor new; the subconscious is indiscriminately and deliciously sensual; the process of putting ourselves into words exhausts and exhilarates; we learn from one another through our writing, and there is always much to learn. I wanted to see the work sown and the work seeded at the conference, and my desire was shared by others–we wanted a Bear River Review. For now we’ll use this on-line format as a way of getting the work around to its readers, but perhaps at some point we may have an actual as well as a virtual journal. I hope the writings help you connect the spaces in this life. Welcome to the BRR inaugural issue. Enjoy! ~Chris Lord, Editor

Note: The work on this site is used with the permission of the authors, who retain all copyright to their own material.