Introduction by Chad Parenteau

James Conant/Cindy Williams


There are many things I could bring to your attention in Issue #4, but let's look at the bios section and check out the new titles bestowed on James Conant and Cindy Williams, whose collaboration graces the top of this page. Unlike most lateral promotions, it gives them no additional burdens and rewards them with recognition that they've been entitled to for a long time.

Moving forward, Spoonful will be premiering more artists, which has been my hope for a long time. But there must be due credit given to the two who were here before I even had the idea for Spoonful.

Cindy Williams was a fellow worker at Brigham and Women's Hospital. It was she whose ear I would erode slowly as I went on and on about my plan to self-publish a chapbook of poetry. But where would I find art for the cover? In an attempt to save her other ear, she brought in the sketchbooks of her boyfriend James Conant, who drew constantly when he wasn't waiting tables. I found a page with the illustration I wanted, and the rest is history (which fortunately can be summed up in a paragraph or two).

From our newly formed friendship, James has gone on to do my cover for Discarded: Poems for My Apartments, illustrate The Baby Chronicles (a persona anthology like no other) and contribute visual artwork to Spoonful and other online journals. And having long been aware of Cindy's exceptional photography (which specializes in the city with all its large and small details), it made perfect sense inviting her to join in.

Today, Cindy is working for a different hospital (as am I), and James is on hiatus, having recovered from knee surgery over the last year. I am grateful knowing that amidst all their life changes, they were still able to find time to share their creative talents, and I hope I can continue to showcase their work with more and more people.

This is the fifth issue of Spoonful Cindy and James have contributed to (remember we started from #0) and there will be more from them in the future, as they supply seemingly endless creative visuals to pair with our poets.

There are more artistic contributors than ever in this issue, and Spoonful will continue to debut artists, but I want to pay homage to who was here first.