Write, Publish, and Shine

In this episode of Lit Mag Love: A podcast for creative writers who want to publish, host Rachel Thompson interviews Doyali Islam from Arc magazine.Their conversation covers offering an emotional truth and creating some kind of intimacy with the readers. They also discuss how poets and readers of poetry feel a sense of belonging through poem. Doyali is someone who recites her favourite poems to keep herself company as she moves invisibly about the city. If you spot her in her cat-print dress, though, she would love to connect with you. (She describes just how to do so in the episode.)

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In this episode of the Lit Mag Love Podcast, host Rachel Thompson talks with Alexandria Petrassi from So to Speak journal.Their discussion covers how the “canonical” writer has changed. “When I started reading poetry, I didn’t read anybody living,” says Alexandria, adding “The fantastic part about this moment, is who people are reading now and who people will remember are so much different now. The quality of the voices, speaking their own truths, their experiences moving through the world.”So to Speak Journal seeks poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art for one online issue and one print/contest issue a year—the contest issue has $8 entry fees, and they do not charge for submissions to the online issue and blog. (Check their Submittable page to see what they are reading before you submit.) They are looking for work that matches their intersectional feminist viewpoint, and for work by writers, poets, and artists who want to challenge and change the identity of the “canonical” writer.Alexandria Petrassi studies poetry in the MFA program at George Mason University. She is the Editor in Chief at So to Speak Journal. She is the winner of the 2018 Mary Roberts Rhinehart Award in Poetry, and her work has appeared in CALAMITY, Crab Fat Magazine, and Sweet Tree Review, among others. You can find her on Instagram @alexandriapetra.

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In this episode of the Lit Mag Love Podcast, host Rachel Thompson talks with Sakina Fakhri and Diana McClure, founders of Azure magazine.Azure accepts literary fiction, creative non-fiction, excerpts, screenplays, stageplays, fragments, meanderings, philosophy and poetry, in submissions of up to 50 pages. They don’t charge fees for submissions, and here’s something interesting—if your submission is part of a novel-length work or feature-length screenplay, there exists the possibility of publishing it in installments in future issues.They talk about the connection of interiority to empathy—how writers give readers that inner experience of something they don’t understand. Listen to this conversation with Sakina Fakhri & Diana McClure to learn more about the unique, cerebral and empathetic writing they love to publish in Azure.

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We talk about how their collaboration works and extends to the writers who submit to the journal. We cover jealousy in art and how the poems and stories they publish need to be ready for their solo appearance. We also get pretty specific about the lengths of work in both flash and longer fiction. And the interview turns even more collaborative when they turn the mic on me to discuss our writing practices—they have lots to say about what has worked and what hasn’t when it comes to writing consistently.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about how their collaboration works and extends to the writers who submit to the journal. We cover jealousy in art and how the poems and stories they publish need to be ready for their solo appearance. We also get pretty specific about the lengths of work in both flash and longer fiction. And the interview turns even more collaborative when they turn the mic on me to discuss our writing practices—they have lots to say about what has worked and what hasn’t when it comes to writing consistently.

In this episode, Rachel Thompson interviews Rebecca Salazar, poetry editor with Plenitude magazine, a publication that aims to promote the growth and development of LGBTTQI literature. We talk about how she’s turning to her peers for mentoring in light of the abusive culture of mentoring unearthed in CanLit (Canadian Literature) in the past few years, how two-spirited writers in Canada are having a sort of coming into one's own, and there's this community that's basically springing out of places we neglected to look, with so much power in their words and their writing—the fire that editors like Rebecca appreciate in submissions! And she shares much more love about queer and trans writing. (Spoiler alert: RuPaul’s Drag Race comes up!)

In this episode, Rachel Thompson interviews Rebecca Salazar, poetry editor with Plenitude magazine, a publication that aims to promote the growth and development of LGBTTQI literature. We talk about how she’s turning to her peers for mentoring in light of the abusive culture of mentoring unearthed in CanLit (Canadian Literature) in the past few years, how two-spirited writers in Canada are having a sort of coming into one's own, and there's this community that's basically springing out of places we neglected to look, with so much power in their words and their writing—the fire that editors like Rebecca appreciate in submissions! And she shares much more love about queer and trans writing. (Spoiler alert: RuPaul’s Drag Race comes up!)

In this episode, Rachel Thompson talks with Robin Richardson, founder of the Minola Review. She discusses how she overcame early critiques of her writing by men—critiques she internalized. And they talk about getting men to listen. Minola Review is named after the protagonist in The Taming of the Shrew after all. One theme of their conversation is taking control of your narrative."[Negative] voices like that aren't allowed in my life anymore and they were before and it has something to do with me. And I'm interested in women who can see those things about themselves and talk about them as well."Writing from Minola Review Discussed in the Episode:PALM TREES, POST­-RAPE by Cade LeebronBLITZED OUT by Lauren TurnerON TENDERNESS by Shannon BramerLULLABY by T. Kira Madden (author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls)COLD HANDS by Paola FerranteHost: Rachel ThompsonSound Editor: Mica LemiskiTranscript Editing: Rachel ThompsonPresented by Room magazine and the Lit Mag Love Course

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Rachel Thompson talks with Robin Richardson, founder of the Minola Review. She discusses how she overcame early critiques of her writing by men—critiques she internalized. And they talk about getting men to listen. Minola Review is named after the protagonist in The Taming of the Shrew after all. One theme of their conversation is taking control of your narrative.

"[Negative] voices like that aren't allowed in my life anymore and they were before and it has something to do with me. And I'm interested in women who can see those things about themselves and talk about them as well."

Writing from Minola Review Discussed in the Episode:

PALM TREES, POST­-RAPE by Cade Leebron

BLITZED OUT by Lauren Turner

ON TENDERNESS by Shannon Bramer

LULLABY by T. Kira Madden (author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls)

COLD HANDS by Paola Ferrante

Host: Rachel Thompson

Sound Editor: Mica Lemiski

Transcript Editing: Rachel Thompson

Presented by Room magazine and the Lit Mag Love Course

In this episode, Rachel Thompson talks with Lilly Dancyger of Narratively, about the responsibility of editors to elevate voices left out the conversation, why you should know what conversations have already been had about the subjects of your writing, her experiences with memoir writing both deep and shallow with ideas on how to find the deep stories that resonate with readers and editors.

Lilly Dancyger's essays and journalism on sex, politics, and culture have appeared in Rolling Stone, The Rumpus, The Washington Post, Psychology Today and more. She is the editor of Burn it Down, an anthology of women and nonbinary writers on anger and it's forthcoming from Seal Press. Lilly is also at work on a memoir about her father's art and heroin addiction and the legacy of both in her life.