Publicity Contact: Eileen Duhné
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SOLACE in So Many Words

Edited by Ellen Wade Beals

     You may ask, what does solace mean? According to writer and editor Ellen Wade Beals, creator of the anthology Solace in So Many Words (Weighed Words LLC, May 12, 2011), solace is a mixture of love, hope, comfort, truth and so much more…
      The journey to this discovery was not an easy one. “I don’t believe I am the only person who thinks the preceding decade was difficult,” explains Beals, “beginning with September 11, 2001.” Solace in So Many Words, an insightful collection of smart literary writing on what solace means and how to find it, is Beals’ response to these times.
     The idea for a book was sparked for Beals when her poem, “August 1999: light is a measure of time” was included in Kiss Me Goodnight (Syren Books, 2005), an anthology of writings by women who were girls when their mothers died, conceived and edited by Ann O’Fallon and Margaret Vaillancourt. This book inspired Beals to create a collection of her own that men and women of any age, region or persuasion could contribute to and read.
      She came up with the topic of solace, she now realizes, because, like many of us, she felt such an overwhelming need for it herself. Once she had the theme, Beals put out a call for writing on what solace means and how to find it. She wrote her favorite authors and took out an ad in Poets & Writers, looking for work that “speaks to the reader in a genuine voice.”
     The result is a far-ranging collection of poetry, essays and fiction by fifty-two writers from fifteen states. Contributors include award-winning writers such as T. C. Boyle, Philip Levine, Joe Meno and Antler. Boyle often has stories in The New Yorker and books on the bestseller’s list.Like Boyle’s work, Levine’s poetry regularly appears in The New Yorker and wins awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. Indie author Meno writes plays, books (including Hairstyles of the Damned), and short stories (“Midway” received the Nelson Algren Award from the Chicago Tribune in 2003).
     Though most of the contributors have books of their own, not every name is well known, yet. Some are from the Chicago area, where Beals resides and the literary scene is quite vibrant; some are co-contributors to Kiss Me Goodnight; and others are writers from both coasts and points in between whose words so impressed Beals that she felt compelled to share them.
      Solace in So Many Words presents a satisfying assortment of compelling writing —fiction, poetry, stories and essays on loss, love, hope and most of all, solace, deftly edited by Ellen Wade Beals.

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“The diverse bedfellows who appear here prove artful words can be a balm for pain, one’s own or the wider world’s.” 
 —Susan K. Perry, Creativity Blogger for PsychologyToday.com and author of Writing in Flow

“This collection offers an engaging account through poetry and essays of what it is to be human, vulnerable, and how to keep on loving in spite of it all."
 —Doug Holder, Publisher, Ibbetson Street Press

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About Ellen Wade Beals:
Trained as a journalist, today Beals writes poetry and prose. Her poem “Between the Sheets” was included in the textbook Everything’s a Text (Pearson Education, 2010). Her work has appeared in such literary magazines as After Hours, Falling Star, Off Channel, Moon Journal, Eclipse, Ropes (Galway, Ireland) and The Stony Thursday Book (Limerick, Ireland); in anthologies including Key West: A Collection, Family Gatherings and Take Two-They're Small; and on the web (inkadashes.com and thepoetrymill.blogspot.com). In 1999, her short story “Picking” earned the Willow Springs fiction prize. Named one of Chicago’s emerging poets, Beals has won prizes in local contests sponsored by Evanston Library, The Guild Complex and chicagopoetry.com. In 2002, she had a residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, County Monahan, Ireland to begin work on a novel she has yet to complete. Beals lives in a suburb of Chicago, a city she loves.

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