Tom - Folios (War, Literature & The Arts)

I ended up taking home Folios Body (2018) and Folios Peace (2017) to perform further research. Both were created by the War, Literature & The Arts literary magazine. This magazine publishes poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction pieces of literature. The Folios literary journal issues are released annually and direct the focus towards a specific topic. Folios "is a themed journal which complements and magnifies the annual journal while staking out new ground." 

War, Literature & The Arts began its publication in 1989. It is published form the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. Kathleen Harrington is the editor in chief of the magazine. She is a winner of the Colorado Romance Writers' Award of Excellence (many of her books appear to be of the type we discussed a few classes ago, with very over-the-top romantic cover material).

Each Folios issue focuses on a specific topic. In 2017 the theme of the issue was peace and in 2018 the theme was body. Both journals contain opening pieces that distinctly highlight the referenced topics. In Folios Body we are presented with a story about a young mother birthing a child at 18 years old. We also witness a firsthand account of a mother's decision to have an abortion, and explore the idea of women (and their bodies) experiencing protection or the lack of protection. The word "body" is used countless times throughout the piece. Similarly, the word "peace" is used perpetually throughout the opening piece in Folios Peace. This piece discusses the symbiotic, if not peaceful relationship between the !Kung tribe of Africa and the native lions. Without the imposition of fear or power, the !Kung do not invade the lion's deserved spoils. Likewise, the lions do not ambush the !Kung while they are scavenging their food. 


Both issues contain images of visual art, in different forms. Folios Peace contains paintings from a war zone in Iraq, and Folios Body contains images of abstract sculptures by Gina Herrera. Folios Body also contains sheet music, which Folios Peace does not. One of the reasons I chose Folios Body was because I noticed that it contained sheet music, which I felt was entirely unexpected for a literary journal.

According to online sources referencing the editor of WLA:

"Quality is the sole determining factor for acceptance in WLA. At its best, WLA is witness to the power of word and image and for the human craving for meaning. If one of the functions of art is to disturb the status quo, to force us to view the world anew, to consider our capacities to build or tear down, then we welcome those disturbances."

Both covers for these issues invoke emotion in very different ways. Folios Body allows us to consider our capacity to build by displaying a sculpture that was built by Gina Herrera. Folios Peace allows us to consider our capacity to tear down by displaying a painting depicting a scene of war. 

I believe that even though the magazine/journal is non-profitable by nature, the main reason it is published is out of the belief that art must be preserved and used to further humanity's opinions about the world.