To create art off society's cultural grid, to create art not powered by the currents of fashion nor vetted by critical tastemakers is risky. Indeed, one might say those who dare are choosing to live a life on "the edge." In today's McCulture, the term, "the edge" has devolved, as Anne Elizabeth Moore, editor of the DIY magazine Punk Planet, argues in "17 Theses on the Edge," into a commercial construct of the elite. It has become a tool to market soft drinks, hot wings, and lanky Irish guitar players. This issue also focuses on people and characters who make their home on the margins, whether it be deep in Southern communes or on houseboats in Sausalito. Some choose the fringe, like the paranormal searchers in Ron Carlson's story "At the Broken Ridge," and others, as Martin Preib illustrates in his essay, "Unemployment Stew," don't. Luckily for the pure of heart, there will always be poets, who, no matter how hard they try, will always exist outside of "normal" society. Jerry Williams's passionately unhinged poem "Admission" is Exhibit A. Leave your preconceptions behind and join us.
