Love, Ophelia poem by Chelsea Pratt Pearls mark poison. The way you shimmer, I should’ve known. The crown jewel’s love-slicked lips sucked drought dry. Did I know then I nursed madness and would I drink again? Earth’s parched cradle for a moment, wrapped around the world. No choice here, not when all narrows to you,
CategoryIssue #1.1
“Praise” – poem by Luke Fraser
Praise poem by Luke Fraser The candle’s flame licks the thin cracks around the Buddha’s face. On his cheek the light shines through his gouged palm where the bullet left its wound. While the logs of his sanctuary crumble and the bamboo shoots reclaim his holy land, he sits. Waits. Prays. Behind the stone eye-lids
“An Ode to Sylvia Plath” – fiction by Nafiza Azad
An Ode to Sylvia Plath fiction by Nafiza Azad “The Tongues of Hell” . We specialize in lies and silver hearts made from crystallized sodium silicate at a hundred and fifteen degrees Celsius. The hearts are liars too. With a twinge of mercury in their azure depths. We have tongues red with the raspberry
“One Week Later, Dick North Died III” – photo by Laura Elena Tinoco
One Week Later, Dick North Died III photo by Laura Elena Tinoco Commentary This photo belongs to a series that refers to Haruki Murakami’s novel Dance Dance Dance. The image represents one of the six skeletons
“HK/Summer 2011” – photo series by Maddie Gorman
“HK/Summer 2011” photo series by Maddie Gorman Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui Bowen Road, Home Midnight, Cotton Tree Drive Commentary HK/Summer 2011 manifested out of a deeply personal desire to preserve moments in space and time that I felt were particularly vulnerable to change. Walking around the city I grew
“Dreamweaver” and “La Fontana Mágica” – photos by Beth d’Aoust
“Dreamweaver” photo by Beth d’Aoust Commentary This photo was captured during a winter solstice celebration in an elaborately constructed ice cave at Apex Mountain, just outside Penticton, BC. The subject, Manya, had built herself a humble sanctuary in one of the many nooks and crannies of the cave and was hosting a small ceremony for
“Her Father’s Daughter: Locating the Maternal in Shakespeare’s King Lear” – essay by Chelsea Pratt
Her Father’s Daughter: Locating the Maternal in Shakespeare’s King Lear essay by Chelsea Pratt . Opening with a jocular account of extramarital pregnancy, the language of female reproduction permeates the whole of King Lear. Despite these linguistic invocations, the maternal body remains physically absent on stage: the princesses’ mother has passed away before the action
“Postscript” by Michael Prior
This work is now accessible only in the print edition, as per the author’s request. You can buy the print edition at our launch parties and ESA events, or send us a quick e-mail request.
“Baby, It’s Biological: Incest as the Human Circulatory System in ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore” – essay by MacKenzie Walker
Baby, It’s Biological: Incest as the Human Circulatory System in ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore essay by MacKenzie Walker . John Ford’s Tis a Pity She’s a Whore (1633) is a very bloody production. Scholars conclude that Ford uses the flow and restriction of blood to illustrate his premise that incest is the most appealing
“Ground Breaking” – poem by Stephen Morgan
Ground Breaking poem by Stephen Morgan Scroll through the poem with the arrow buttons Ground Breaking View more presentations from thegardenstatuary.
“Swimsuit model minus the swimsuit and model” and “Seagull x2” – collage and photo by Janice Cheng
Commentary Defacing the media and their concept of ideal body/face/clothes. I wanted to reveal her insides, remember that we are all animals. “Seagull x2″ photo by Janice Cheng Commentary I took a photo of a bird and when I developed it I rolled it wrong and accidentally left watermarks and dust
“Summer Hair” photo by Stephanie Fung
Summer Hair photo by Stephanie Fung Commentary I felt compelled to capture this shot of three-year-old Esme as the last rays of summer sun disappeared from the sky. Her anxious expression reminded me of my own childhood dread of getting my hair cut short and of those often fleeting moments of youth when
“Reflections of Venize: Frari” – poem by Murissa Shalapata
Reflections of Venize: Frari poem by Murissa Shalapata With crimson Bardolino in hand I taste you, Venize your mind numbing routes of destiny like untangling knots of angelhairs in a hurry by the hour glass of spices that smell of sulfur, basilico, lemon and grass I paid little attention to your streets of uneven marble
“Grief Pond” – poem by Maddie Gorman
Grief Pond poem by Maddie Gorman You watch the stone drop into the middle of a pond. There it is: the origin— the node from which all subsequent ripples birth. At the same time you feel the wind whistle through a hole in your heart. It aches like a sensitive tooth. The seasons pile on.
“Your Buttresses Are Flying” – music by Alexander Keurvorst
Your Buttresses Are Flying music by Alexander Keurvorst
About Issue 1.1
About Issue 1.1 It is with great pleasure that I introduce the first official issue of The Garden Statuary, UBC’s new English Undergraduate Journal. The Garden Statuary started as the dream-project of my English 210 honours class in the spring of 2010. After our final exam, we sat around the flag pole, chatted about how