Photo by Beth Piwkowski.

Well, it’s our one year anniversary here at the Cleveland Review. What began as an effort to keep ourselves out of trouble has morphed into something almost presentable, something you might even take home to your mother (after a good scrubbing, that is).

We’re anticipating that 2012 will be a growth year for the Cleveland Review. I was fortunate enough to win a Creative Workforce Fellowship from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, which has allowed me to cut back my work schedule so that I can devote more time not only to the Cleveland Review but to my own novel.  Next month, we’ll launch our new blog, which will feature contributor profiles, book reviews, and general ruminations on the Rust Belt. And maybe — just maybe — we’ll squeeze in our first fundraiser by the end of the year.

But on to the issue: in addition to a fine selection of fiction, poetry, and artwork, we also present you with an essay by Poetry Editor Wells Addington on Philip Levine, our current U.S. poet laureate (and Rust Belt native). We have a mini photo essay by Youngstown-based photographer Sean Posey. And last but not least, our own Rusty the Rust Belt Rat shakes his pompoms for Cleveland, the city he loves.

We hope you’ll enjoy it.

Christine Borne

Editor-in-Chief