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Last summer, I had the great joy of revisiting the wonderful writing that has been published in the Creative Literary Arts Section over the past 14 years. For some time, I had been feeling that this extraordinary work was endangered, that it was not readily available. I wanted it to be appreciated by the larger audience it deserves. And now it will.
In January, Karnac Books in London published Writing on the Moon: Stories and Poetry from the Creative Unconscious by Psychoanalysts and Others, a selection I made of some of the best work presented in these pages, along with many of the introductions I wrote to each of the 29 issues.
In working on the manuscript, I was struck by the remarkable quality of the work. I was also filled with gratitude for the enthusiastic readers who have told me how much they value—in the midst of a busy day—reading the Creative Literary Arts Section of the journal.
Part of the thrill of working on these creative sections was casting a wide net. For the third issue I put out a call on the Listserv of institutes around the country and abroad, inviting submissions of original unpublished creative work on the theme “Poetry by People in Analysis.” The response was overwhelming: Hundreds of poems poured in. I knew I was onto something.
Suddenly I was faced with a dilemma: how to select the eight or 10 poems I had space to publish. I decided to trust my creative intuition, my experience as a writer, and my experience as an analyst. Did the poem grab me emotionally? Was I moved? Did it feel original? Did I want to read it again? Did the poet allow me into his or her being? Did electricity jump off the page?
Over the years, I put out many other calls that sparked the imagination. In “A Call for Love,” we were again flooded with submissions. The contributions examined the ecstatic exuberance and delight of pure love, the sensual desire and aching for erotic love, the exhilaration of finding a new chance at love, the heartbreak of losin