Before Amber Forest Magazine, we started off as Sprinklers.

Sprinklers was a project brought on by editor Vanessa Escobar (me), to be a platform for any and all writers. Sprinklers was to be a safe space for writers that were nervous and scared to put themselves out there and for those who had no issue hitting the send button at all.

In the many emails I received, most were from writers out of college, trying to figure out the post grad life. They submitted to Sprinklers because they needed someone to hear them, to read them, and I am so happy they felt Sprinklers could and would be those eyes and ears.

Below is an excerpt of one of many emails received. These writers were the reason Sprinklers kept moving forward.

“Writing makes me feel like I could be anywhere at anytime in any state of existence. Since I’ve graduated it’s been difficult to write and I’m trying to stay alive. Thanks.”

Throughout the project many of the authors and artists were standouts and decided that they too wanted to be part of creating the issues. Lucas Khan was first, then we had Lacey Nichols. Shauna Birkett decided she wanted to spread the word out for the small magazine and David Goins & Matt Phejlada soon followed after. With their time and talent they made Sprinklers better and stronger.

But where have we been these past few months? Well, we needed a small break as we all  work full time jobs in very different industries. And we also needed time to discuss what was the best course for Sprinklers. There are so many online magazines, that all the little ones can get lost. We agreed that moving forward meant big changes.

Lucas and I, along with many of our staff members are huge fans of Kurt Vonnegut. When reconsidering a name for Sprinklers, we decided to pay him tribute. We pulled our new name Amber Forest Magazine, from Vonnegut’s popular quote:

“Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.”

We felt this fit us beautifully and our new mission. We want your poetry, your art, your prose to show us your amber of the moment.

You will also notice our website is cleaner and more user friendly. Submissions are now on a rolling basis. This will provide you with a quicker response time and it’ll be easier for those who would like to send in new revisions. You no longer have to wait for the next month to resubmit, you’ll be able to resubmit the next day, if you like.

We are very happy that we have had many followers to share this journey with, and although I am sad to see Sprinklers say goodnight, I am excited for what’s ahead as Amber Forest.

Lucas thought we should end with a little excerpt from W.H. Auden’s “As I Walked Out One Evening”

And down by the brimming river
   I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
   ‘Love has no ending.

‘I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you
   Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
   And the salmon sing in the street,

‘I’ll love you till the ocean
   Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
   Like geese about the sky.

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/i-walked-out-one-evening