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literary eye WUZ here Uories by women writers under 30 Reviews for Readers of all Ages writing by publishing it in the formal that would reach the largest readership possible. Of the eight book publishers she approached, five were interested-- encouraging, given the highriskof fiction publishing. Lasl October. Douglas & Mclntyre launched the collection, eye wuz here, at the Vancouver International Writers Festival. Cooley says the collection is an insight into women and how they have progressed. The stories are "grounded in the contemporary expression of young women...I wanted to say, 'We can speak for ourselves.'" So what's with the title? Cooley says she thought about the places young women frequent--any public place really--bathrooms, bus stops, park benches. "Often people just write 'I was here.'" Taking a spin on the familiar heart-enclosed "true love 4-ever" graffiti. Cooley decided to "muck around with language and see what came of it." "eye wuz here" not only captures the self-affirmation of these young women writers but also hints at the possibilities of language played with in many of the stories. Cooley wrote her contribution to the collection when she was 21. "Cerebus and the Rain" is ihe story of three friends fooling around and gabbing. "I wanted to capture the clique-based language of teens and young women." These aren't all easy stories: there's a lot of personal stuff here. Many of the stories share common themes, tackling issues of cultural identity, sexual identity, physical abuse and insanity. They are stories of acceptance and racism, friendship and revenge, love and rape. While the stories are primarily fiction, the writing is "based somewhat on our own experiences," says Cooley. "The lines blur between fiction and creative non-fiction." Many of the stories have a streetwise edge. It's not a tone Cooley was looking for, since the stories are a blend of urban and rural backgrounds. "Maybe the street-smarts comes out of living in the nineties." Cooley says. "Maybe it's a collective experi- Edited by Shannon Cooley Douglas & Mclntyre 277 pp.. $19.95 paperback Review by Judy Phillips I n her fourth and final year in the creative writing program at the University of Victoria. Shannon Cooley had what she describes as a bit of a brainchild. "1 was surrounded by young women writers, and I thought "someone should be collecting their work."" And not just the work of the women in her class, but that of young aspiring women writers across the country. Encouraged by the response to her idea from the writers, editors and professors she approached. Cooley put out a call for submissions. Using her own money (it wasn't until eight months into the project that Cooley received funding through an Explorations grant!. Cooley sent nearly 500 letters to literary journals, bookstores and creative writing departments. Wanting to show there are "a lot of capable writers under 30." with different perspectives. Cooley stipulated that submitters be 30 or younger. The response was overwhelming: almost 300 stories were submitted. She wasn't fully satisfied, though, and made a second call for submissions. Almost another 300_ stories were submitted, including some from writers in their mid to late thirties wanting to be included in the collection (none were). Cooley also personally solicited close to 60 stories. After weeding through the pile. Cooley sought the help of friends and peers to read and give feedback. Three and a half years later. Cooley had 9()/r r ence coming out in the stories. But then." she says, laughing, "maybe not." Either way. this is a book to be read not in one go but rather over lime, allowing each story to have time to absorb. Nor is the collection limited to readers under 30, although Cooley thinks it does speak to them "directly." While a couple of the stories about adolescent sexuality reminded me loo much of high school for comfort, the subtle humour in "Canadian Culture 201," Hiromi Goto's story of two sisters' roadtrip (of sister Ivy: "I never thought of her as ivy, as in vine, but more like IV. like in dripl: Suzanne Buffam's original and wonderful "in the red"; and the disturbing world of insanity in Nick Nolet's "Bonfire Angels," a story one reads and then is compelled to reread, balance this collection. Although she enjoyed the editorial role she took on for this project, Cooley. who lives in Squamish, con siders herself a writer first And her advice to young, struggling writers, on ihe heels of the recent statistic of the abysmal average income for Canadian writers ($15,000 in 1994)? "If you're doing it for the money, you're nuts." But if you're writing for the love of it. "keep writing, keep submitting.' 1 of her collection of 28 stories (the remainder was chosen once Cooley had found a publisher). Almost hall of the collection is culled from the stories she personally solicited. A number of the stories have been published previously in literary magazines, but Cooley says she was not necessarily looking for original work. Rather, her goal was to support the Judy Phillips is an editor at SelfCounsel Press and is this copy editor. magazine's