Rattle #53, Fall 2016

by The Rattle Foundation, Timothy Green (Editor), Steve Abbott (Contributor)

Adjunct Poets

Rattle #53 features a tribute to 22 adjunct instructors, and a spirited conversation with Jennifer Jean, covering the current plight of adjuncts in academia, her work with sex trafficking survivors, and time spent as a Tarot card reader. Over 65% of U.S. college faculty now work as adjuncts, facing low wages, limited hours, and high instability. We wanted to highlight their writing, while also showing support for recent efforts at gaining better treatment by the university system. As always, the goal was to show the wide range of creative work that the featured group is producing, so while many poems address their careers, others cover a variety of subjects. All of them share their thoughts on adjuncting in the contributor notes section.

The first half of the issue features an eclectic mix of work by seventeen poets from other fields.

Genres: Poetry

104 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2016

About the author

Rattle is a publication of the Rattle Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the practice of poetry, and is not affiliated with any other organization.
Alan C. Fox is its founder.

Reviews

[Narmeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorites were:

1. The First Thanksgiving, Exactly by Michael Mark
2. A Handbook for the Blind by Darren Morrin
3. Mean Time by Peter Murphyg

And the conversation between Jean and Green at the end was very enlightening as well. Besides that I didn't find myself relating to any of the other works in this collection. It was still an enjoyable read.

[Abby N Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rattle is the only poetry magazine I continuously subscribe to, and whenever my subscription expires and I tell myself I can do without, I start to get antsy. So I resubscribe. And the best part is I can do that by submitting to their annual contest, so then I not only get to keep reading great poetry (and great interviews with poets) but I can throw some of my own work in the mix too and see if anything comes of it.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first time reading a paper issue of Rattle, and it was exactly the indulgent treat I envisioned when I bought the subscription. There were a few pieces that didn't connect with me or left me scratching my head, but far more poems that I read and re-read and then shared with the nearest person. "You have to read this," I said.
I was just going to skim the interview in the back with Jennifer Jean, but found myself drawn in deeply and intrigued by her work as a facilitator using poetry to help trauma victims, esp those healing from human trafficking. That website is www.free2writepoetry.weebly.com, and there are resources to help you become involved.

[Antonia]

Not my favorite Rattle, but a wide range of voices and styles, and quite a few I liked. Favorite poems were by Hillery Stone snd Craig van Rooyen. I'll seek out more work from these two. Nice cover.

[Sanaa Hyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite thing about this issue: poems contributed by Adjunct Professors in America. These poems were especially inspiring, delightful, and moving, given the shaky nature of adjunct teaching positions.

Also this issue concluded with an excellent conversation between the editor Timothy Green and poet Jennifer Jean - about human trafficking, understanding poetry and Tarot card reading.