2011 (Volume 23)

 

"In November I went to Beijing to visit my daughter, who was teaching English there. What struck me was the silence about Liu Xiaobo, who had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. There was a disconnect. Here I was in this city of 18 million, near a shopping mall, which was putting up Christmas decorations, selling KFC, Big Macs and Gucci bags and yet the people didn't know what was happening in their own country or if they knew they could talk about it. I wondered how long those Gucci bags would keep them satisfied.

 

The connection between freedom of speech and the press and my job as editor of The Briar Cliff Review was so clear. As editor, I read hundreds of manuscripts that cover all topics and issues. If I lived in China, there wouldn't be a magazine like this.

 

The themes of this year's Review deal with the need for connection. "Perceiving the world as a web of connectedness helps us to overcome the feelings of separation that hold us back and cloud our visions," says Emma Restall Orr. We hope our readers will feel this connectedness in our 23rd issue of The Briar Cliff Review."

— Tricia Currans-Sheehan, editor