basalt: a journal of fine and literary arts

A high point of Varon's writing and publishing career has been serving as a founding editor, along with co-editor David Axelrod and art editor Ben Mitchell, of basalt: a journal of fine and literary arts (formerly Calapooya). During her long tenure at the magazine, basalt showcased the art of such luminaries as Rick Bartow, Morris Graves, Nan Parsons, Sandra dal Poggato, Wes Mills, and Ka’ila Farrell Smith as well as the fine writing of Maxine Skates, Gary Young, Christopher Howell, Andrzej Bursa, Crystal Williams, Jesse Lee Kercheval, James Crews, among many others.

The inaugural issue from 2005 featured a portfolio of art work from the Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts near Pendleton, Oregon by Rick Bartow, James Lavadour, Marie Watt and others, and poems by Paulann Petersen, Dorianne Laux, Maureen Eppstein, Rolf Aggestam, translated by Lars Nordström, Gary Young, Christopher Howell, and many others. In 2007, Varon and Axelrod published "Dragon Egg," a poem by Aku Wuwu in the Nuosu language of the Yi ethnic minority in China translated by Mark Bender, Aku Wuwu and Jjiepa Ayi. The publication of that poem in basalt's special issue on work in translation (volume 2, number 1, 2007), sparked a resurgence of interest in the preservation of the Nuosu language and helped Aku Wuwu to establish the College of Yi Studies at Southwest Nationalities University, Chengdu, China.

Each issue built upon the previous one, and the magazine, formerly published as Calapooya, garnered praise for being “beautiful in its bones.” The final issue of the first iteration of basalt was published during Covid in 2021 in collaboration with the Missoula Art Museum. As with the first issue, it featured the art of Rick Bartow on the cover, a portfolio of “Love Letters to the Contemporary Native American Art Collection at the Missoula Art Museum” and the work of many writers we have had the honor to watch grow and flourish: Debra Magpie Earling, Mandy Smoker Broaddus, Heather Cahoon, Chris La Tray, Melissa Kwasny, Travis Mossotti, Todd Davis, Tami Haaland — to name a few.

Special thanks to Tim Lucas for designing the first three issues and to Kristin Summers of redbat design for designing volumes 3-15.

Deep gratitude to all the artists and writers who entrusted basalt with their work.