Spring 2024: Rhythms of the Way

April 26, 2024

Letter from Our Editor

Fellow Pilgrims,

“Do you hear the sound of feet chanting?” I recently heard that line, and it went straight to my pilgrim core.

It’s from Cat Wei’s poem “Dancing at The Get Down,” which I heard on The Slowdown podcast series. The poem, as described by the host, “examines the healing space of the dance floor, where a purifying circle of joy awaits us,” but that one line immediately transported me back to the Camino. I could hear the crunch of gravel underfoot. The drumbeat of trekking poles. The swish of clothing as a pilgrim puts one leg in front of the other. “Do you hear the sound of feet chanting?” Do you feel the rhythms of the Way?

This La Concha issue explores the theme RHYTHMS OF THE WAY. We have reviews of memoirs by those hobbled by blisters and carried forward by the strength of community, another that draws us into an ethereal world of 50 Days in May, a compilation of short stories from 100 pilgrims, and an anthropologist’s observational study of the Camino in the 1990s—a world located a quarter-century in the past that today feels simultaneously foreign and familiar. Poetry that invites us to slow down, relish a simple routine, and honestly acknowledge the ebb and flow between pilgrim gratitude and irritation. We have essays from some who found their footing, direction, or breath along the Way; one walking in spirit with his late daughter and others who fell in sync with their Camino family; reflections about the daily patterns and lived experience of pilgrimage that so easily elude us back home and that we can rediscover if we look up.

This issue also marks a change in our La Concha routine. Last year, we solicited reader input to help shape the magazine’s future. Survey feedback confirmed a shift from PDF to this web-based format. This shift allows us to serve those who enjoy reading La Concha from their desktops and those who prefer a mobile-responsive format, whether reading on a tablet from their armchair or their phone when on the go. For now, we plan to continue releasing La Concha themed content on a quarterly basis, though the web-based format does afford us greater publication flexibility when needed. Enjoy this fresh format, full of content that reverberates the cycles, repetitions, and patterns of pilgrimage.

May your journey be sacred,
Amy

Spring 2024 La Concha Content

American Pilgrims News

Hospitalero Corner

The Unexpected Happened in Logroño

Pilgrims Way – Reflections on the Theme “Rhythms of the Way”

Poetry

Book & Film Reviews

Submissions to the Summer 2024 Issue Close June 29

The Summer 2024 theme is LIGHTENING YOUR LOAD. We invite you to share your stories, reflections, poetry, photography, artwork, or other original creative works that express the pilgrim’s unburdening.

What did you choose to jettison on pilgrimage? In this issue, we will explore the ways we strip away the unessential and lay down our burdens to make way for magic. How did a fellow pilgrim or hospitalero help lighten your load, literally or figuratively? How did a practical decision or disciplined practice open the possibility of pilgrimage for you or allow you to experience the Camino’s primal simplicity?

Access the LA CONCHA SUBMISSION FORM for complete submission guidelines and to submit your creative work. We include as many submissions as possible in each issue. We may defer some items to future issues.

Team La Concha – Spring 2024 Volunteers

Amy Horton, Editor-in-Chief
Carol Guttery, Web Designer
Francine Mastini, Creative Director
Copy Editors & Proofreaders: Rebecca Balcarcel, Anne Born, Kelly Bates, Julie Gianelloni Connor, Anna Harris, Stacey Karpp, Pruitt Layton, Jeanette Mills, Gigi Oyog, Thom Ryng, and Lise Yale

Communications Co-Chairs

Eryn-Ashlei Bailey
Martin Peña