Time and Publication
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As we prepare to publish another issue of Praxis this week, we're thinking about time. As editors, we think about time in terms of deadlines, publication schedules, author time-to-publication, and upcoming projects, all of which are fairly discrete, tidy units. Someone has to do something by a certain moment, or in a series of certain moments, and as editors our job is to be that someone or to assist that someone, and to hold the timeclock. It's a little like a race, and just like at the end of a race, we're a little tired, a little sweaty, and a little proud right now.
We're proud of the work our authors have done: from Lester Faigley's evo-psych take on the writing center, which argues the humanity of the writing center encounter between consultant and consultee from a deep-historical point of view, to Elizabeth Kiscaden's and Leanne Nash's account of an international program designed to make that encounter happen in the first place, the focus of issue 12.2 is definitely 'The Writer In/And the Writing Center." However, Andrea Deacon, Becky L. Caouette, Claudine Griggs, and Amanda Metz Bemer remind us that for the writing center encounter to happen we have to keep in mind the importance of structures designed to sustain the writing center, from the center's website to the university's administration; all these authors remind us of the multiplicity of ways of seeing the writing center that exist, and must exist, for writing centers to serve everyone who needs them. Brianna Hyslop, through her review of Ben Rafoth's Multilingual Writers and Writing Centers, reminds us that even the basic stuff of the writing center—language itself—is also multiple, requiring that writers be prepared to use multilingual strategies in the writing center encounter.
As we prepare issue 12.2 for publication, we are reminded that Praxis is also multiple: preparing the entirety of volume 2 for republication as we also publish new work reminds the Praxis editorial team that what feels like a race on our own, personal timescale is actually something far more complex, and less linear, than we think. Ten years after initial publication the articles in vintage Praxis remain vital, focused interventions in an ongoing conversation, and this cyclic return to the early work of scholars who are now important figures in the field offers a salutary reminder. While the work of the writing center is never done, the immense effort required is worthwhile not only in the momentary encounter between two writers, but also many years later.
Sadly, just as Praxis marks the return of authors to our pages, we are also witnessing the departure of an editor, Sarah Orem. Sarah has finished her term as editor and is moving on to other projects, and the Praxis staff will miss her calm, confident direction. However, even here there is return: while Sarah will no longer serve as Managing Editor, James Garner will replace her and, in doing so, return to a leadership role in writing center work. We welcome him, and look forward to his unique contribution to the long history of the journal. As we prepare to publish another issue of Praxis, and two issues of vintage Praxis, we hope you feel the same.
~Sarah Orem & Thomas Spitzer-Hanks