### Issue 1.1 Drops December 1 In the long nights of impending winter, I always want to reread that epic of the frozen north, Beowulf. The great hall of Heorot provides shelter against the cold and the darkness, enlivened by heroic celebrations that make it a target for the ill-tempered Grendel and his mother. Poetry is an integral part of the hearthside society: *@tab @tab @tab @tab The poem was over, @ret the poet had performed, a pleasant murmur @ret started on the benches, stewards did the rounds @ret with wine in splendid jugs, and Wealhtheow came to sit @ret in her gold crown between two good men.* (Translated by Seamus Heaney) Literature is as essential as fire. When you read a poem today, you may be alone in a cozy nook or a drafty library instead of shoulder-to-shoulder with war-worn heroes, but that poem still warms your heart and binds you to the human community. We’ll be warming your hearthsides with our first online issue on December 1. –Keeley *(photo credit: "Trace of a Northern Light," by Timo Horstschäfer. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 from [flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/morloy/13187037684/in/photolist-m6i1SG-MwFco7-abuVVa-QLKdp7-Cw58Pg-24AT54j-p51VGM-24F929i-cFanME-2khiVad-PTuXJE-EiP1bh-BRsyPY-Bxuofi-CqAnsf-wLGr4Y-6TCT19-difCzm-2mbjRF6-BQQmwa-fSTYmD-oMwRXY-5xup9R-px3Kp5-6tLCZA-iYNGNU-Cb8GqM-2ki412q-aLDvA6-3MF4V-BbmpXH-6pqXiE-dNd5Zd-h9RZk-DUKDpq-DopCzJ-A3UVzj-792Cen-6pqXm5-dHQvd5-PUgYcH-2jJ3Hdk-q9mGMK-Qpwd7U-4pVQpF-92o8w2-fgYKaX-MGds-23oapuE-2in3RxU))*