Janet Mason (Photo Provided) Read the enticing conversation that bill berry had with Janet Mason earlier this month:  aaduna.org/conversations/   Enjoy Janet Mason’s fiction, “The Mother,” in aaduna’s summer/fall 2015 issue: http://aaduna.org/summerfall2015/fiction/janet-mason/      *   *   * aaduna - a timeless exploration into words and images - is a globally read, multi-cultural, and diverse online literary and visual arts journal established in 2010.  Visit us at www.aaduna.org  where we put measurable actions to our words. Help us build community!  Share with your friends,  "like" our Aaduna-Inc facebook page and follow us on twitter @ aadunaspeaks !  aaduna-Inc  Visit regularly for updates ! @aadunaspeaks  

I am willing to bet that if we were able to transition the coming “Conversations” to a televised program, our stories would be compelling, factual, and raw documentaries rather than screenplay contrived soap operas, reality series, or made for TV dramas.     Simply, aaduna provides the platform for real people to chat unscripted and unedited with no advanced knowledge of questions or comments.   And these conversationalists represent the life journeys that you and I and others go through or have gone through on any given day or night. It is always enriching and confirming to hear, bear witness to, and embrace the truth as articulated by other people that we may never meet.   The universality of experiences becomes the resting place where we can find solace, advice, or validation.   Think of “Conversations” as honest exchanges between two people.   You get the opportunity to witness and read a chat…an exchange…a sharing…a conversation, and the...

Earlier today, aaduna announced its nominees for the 2016 Pushcart Prize.   bill berry, jr. stated, 2015 was a strong year for the journal as its contributors enticed and captivated readers in terms of imagery, story, focus, execution of ideas, and unique approaches to craft.   We are pleased with all the poems and stories that grace our pages, and realize that the current nominees strongly represent our entire community of poets, writers , visual artists, readers, and supporters in a marvelous manner.   We celebrate the nominees’ individual achievement as aaduna continues to embrace all contributors whose individual creativity enables us to produce a journal that is respected and valued in the world-wide   community.          Here are the aaduna 2016 nominees: for Poetry: Desiree St. Amant                    Sunrise ...

Kathryn de Leon (photo provided)   Kathryn de Leon’s work nuanced with captivating and lasting images. Here is a teaser from her poem, “ACROSS THE BORDER (My uncle lived on a ranch in Northern Mexico) We called it simply... " across the border.” Another world, No plumbing Just a large porcelain bowl, A bar of Ivory soap Floating in warm water That clouded to thick white, My sister and I new princesses Bathing in milk. No electricity Just oil lanterns That made us evil, Painted us huge and black On the walls Of the cold bedroom. Janet Mason (photo provided) Janet Mason found her way to aaduna's pathway by weaving words and cascading them into an endearing story. Here is the opening from her story, "The Mother" as a snippet to tease you: (sometime early in the first century) I n the beginning was the Mother.             In the womb, Tamar took men...