Moondance Magazine is an online international women's literary, culture and art journal.

The magazine began in 1996 as one of the first publications to appear online in the early days of the "World Wide Web

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...

", only three years after the first web developers from CERN

CERN

The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...

 in Geneva, Switzerland announced that the WWW - World Wide Web - should be made available free to everyone in the world. Moondance Magazine began publishing bi-annually (twice a year) in 1996 and quarterly in 1997, only three years after the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 began appearing online.

Said Editor-in-Chief Loretta Kemsley, "My background in newspaper design was a good start for our fledgling ezine but so very different from the demands and opportunities of Internet publishing. With little experience to guide us, that first edition was an adventure unto itself. Some of our volunteers doubted we could accomplish this feat, even as we worked hard to meet our self imposed deadline: September, 1996. Moondance was coded for Internet browsers while reading a book on simplified HTML," said editor-in-chief Loretta Kemsley.

Journalist Loretta Kemsley of Los Angeles, creator and publisher for the magazine, began her media career in the mid-1950s as a young horsewoman

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 and stunt rider for cowboy star Gene Autry

Gene Autry

Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

 through Flying A Productions studios in Hollywood. In June 1954, Kemsley rode as a stunt double, at the age of eight, for Nancy Gilbert who played the young Calamity in The Buffalo Bill Jr. NBC series directed by George Archainbaud, starring Dick Jones as Buffalo Bill Jr., the Marshall of Wileyville, Texas. Forty more episodes were later co-produced by Autry for the children's western from 1954-1956.

History

"Moondance was an experiment without precedent when it began, but today is the role model for a variety of exciting new ezines. When we decided to publish Moondance, we searched the Internet for examples to emulate. None could be found. Starting from scratch, we used trial and error to devise the successful format which uses the best of print media design, combined with the expanded capabilities of online media, while remaining accessible to those with hardware and software limitations. Moondance is coded specifically for disabled access," said Kemsley about the magazine's creation.

Only three years after its beginning in 1999, Moondance magazine received a UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 Web Prize Award, Category I (Free Themes). UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was founded as a cultural wing of the United Nations in 1945. Created through the UNESCO prize for the promotion of the arts the UNESCO Web Prize Competition was awarded from 1997-2003 "in recognition of the growing cultural and societal importance of the new information and communication technologies."

"In March, 1998, we were honored when Moondance was presented by Ida Miro Kiss, a Hungarian feminist and renowned speaker, as an example of women networking on the Internet at the UNESCO Inter-governmental Conference, Stockholm, Sweden," said Kemsley.

Moondance magazine is currently being used in many various university-level classroom curricula across the United States including University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, George Mason University

George Mason University

George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

 and Akamai University of Hawaii among others. Mujeres University in Madrid, Spain has also used Moondance magazine in their English studies classroom curriculum since 1999. Today the American Political Science Association, a political science consortium of over 80 universities and higher education centers uses Moondance as a reference to enable a greater study and understanding of women's gender issues.

University at Buffalo - The State University of New York has also included Moondance magazine in their Internet Reference Project on Women and Society.

Past writers for Moondance include noted women journalists, poets, authors and novelists. These include Fulbright scholar Lucinda Nelson Dhavan, Hurston/Wright Award winner Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

Nnedi Okorafor Nnedi Okorafor Nnedi Okorafor (full name: Nnedimma Nkemdili Okorafor (also previously known as Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu) is a Nigerian-American writer of fantasy, science fiction and speculative fiction.- Background and personal life :...

, Sonia Pressman Fuentes

Sonia Pressman Fuentes

Sonia Pressman Fuentes is an American author, speaker, feminist leader and lawyer. She was born in Berlin, Germany, of Polish parents, with whom she came to the U.S. to escape the Holocaust. In the U.S., she became one of the founders of the second wave of the women’s movement...

 the 2000 U.S. Maryland Women's Hall of Fame winner and founder of NOW - the National Organization for Women and 2003 ABA - American Book Award winner Daniela Giseffi.

Focus

Moondance editorial standards stay close to the themes of focusing on the interests, lives and international culture of women. Sections for the magazine include: Best of Theme, Columns, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Inspirations, Poetry, Art and Reviews. Since its beginning Moondance neither sells nor takes any advertising monies. Genres include literary and art criticism. Articles reflect the diversity of interests of international readers. A creative connection between cultures and a meeting of mind and soul is the object.

Readership

Women's publication

Published bi-annually 1996-1997 / quarterly 1997-to present

2006 Readership - approx 187,000 readers per issue

Readership age: covers wide range (18–65 years of age)

Readership interests: feminism, women and culture, women specific stories and women's literary history

Literary Mention and Awards

Moondance magazine chooses a "Best of Theme" writer among its sections for each of its quarterly editions. A Pushcart Prize

Pushcart Prize

The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....

nominee is also chosen annually from the collection of writers who submit material each year.

External links

• Moondance Official Site
• [chronicles/ Moondance Back Issues]
• Founding of Moondance magazine
• Women and Publishing - Feminism and Print Culture: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/apm/publishing/culture/feminist/femintro.html!
• History of the Internet - Robert Zakon abstract http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/
• Ian Peters History of the Net (publishing) - http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/index.html
• UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=6207&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
• Gene Autry Television http://www.geneautry.com/geneautry/television/index.html