We're Back!

My, it's good to be back.   We have been away much too long. The "whys" of our sojourn in the proverbial "woodshed" are too numerous and too exhausting to recount here.   Suffice it to say, the Mag is back up and will be up consistently each month. We are reorganized and fired up. We are committed to bringing you once again some of the finest offerings of multicultural poetry, short fiction, prose and exposition found anywhere on the worldwide web.

You have noted the new web address. We wish to thank our landlord, Miami Dade College, for its long association and its generous support in providing space and technical assistance.   Striking out on our own is daunting, but issues of site access and creative control made this move inevitable.   What has not changed is the quality of writers and writing that you have come to expect from Asili .

The numerous letters and e-mails from you during our down period were encouraging.   We understand that there is a vital and dynamic readership that we serve and we are rededicated to bringing you "good stuff.

In this issue, we bring you stories.   To quote from the National Storytelling Association:

Most dictionaries define a story as a narrative account of a real or imagined event or events. Within the storytelling community, a story is more generally agreed to be a specific structure of narrative with a specific style and set of characters and which includes a sense of completeness. Through this sharing of experience we use stories to pass on accumulated wisdom, beliefs, and values. Through stories we explain how things are, why they are, and our role and purpose. Stories are the building blocks of knowledge, the foundation of memory and learning. Stories connect us with our humanness and link past, present, and future by teaching us to anticipate the possible consequences of our actions...

Preston Allen, Geoffrey Philp, Al Young, Joyce McNair, Michael Hettich, Alice Eckles, Kim Salander, Marc Estrin, Eunice Tate, Henry Dumas and I offer you stories.   Some of these are traditional and others are experimental. For those who might protest that Al Youngs offerings are poetry, well, Al Young can submit whatever the hell he wants. Read and enjoy.