Conversation with the Co-Founders

Taylor: You always come up with icebreakers in class so I’m thinking you should start?

Martheaus: Fair point. You’re trapped on a desert island, and you only have one leg, and your left eye was knocked out, and–for some reason–you only have a pile of every book you’ve ever read. You need to burn all but three books for warmth. Which books are you keeping?

Taylor: Ha! Okay immediately Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar. Then the collected works of Sylvia Plath (I don’t wanna support Ted but it’s the best collection unfortunately). And then I’m thinking either Devotions by Mary Oliver, or maybe Eaven Boland’s collected works? Let's go with Oliver though. What a great question! I do think you are one of the funniest humans alive which is why I’m excited to be starting a lit mag with you! 

Martheaus: Lit mag! Oh yeah that’s what we're supposed to be doing. Why’d you rope me into this?

Taylor: Well I think this is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. I mean we started joking about this during AWP last year and then all of a sudden we were like why don’t we actually try? And as we were thinking about how we could make our magazine “different” I think this idea of “choosing a reader” really resonated with us because we are such different readers and writers right? Like truly immensely different people so we thought it would kinda fun to make people choose between us. Why did you want to jump aboard the lit mag train? Especially when there are so so so many lit mags out and about?

Martheaus: We both submit a lot, and I was starting to get belly-rumbles and aches about some of the rejections. Rejections are important, they’re going to happen, you’ll want to collect them like Pokémon. But I was losing track of what this particular game is all about: the editors’ specific preferences. I wanted to start a poetry mag because–and I hate that it’s this simple–I love poetry. Specifically, I love the poetry of today. I knew that if I were to be a part of a mag, I would want to make it clear to the readers and submitters that I’m not THE GRAND POOBAH of poetry. As an editor, I’m looking for poetry that reaches me–that I believe would reach others deeply. But all of that is under the umbrella of Martheaus’s world–his taste buds.

Taylor: Yes exactly! We both really want submitters to know that like, when/if we say no…that literally means nothing except it wasn’t right for US. But it def could be right for others. Which I know we’ve made a promise to ourselves to customize every rejection and acceptance, and I will make it a point to say in rejections what was really working in poems so writers know what they’ve got going for them even in the wake of a “no” if that makes sense? Poetry is so vast and so different for each writer and I have what? A handful of years in academia and a few publications? That’s nothing! I know nothing! I just wanna read stuff that speaks to me!

Martheaus: You know what worries me. Being an editor will be a wonderful opportunity to learn from the community. Do you think that–because we’ve been so forward with our likes and dislikes–we’re not going to learn to read outside of our comfort zones?

Taylor: Oh good point! I think for me, it comes down to being willing to be surprised. And I hope that happens early and often. Just cause I joke “send all nerdy stuff” to Martheaus doesn’t mean I won't be blown away by a really well-crafted Ninja Turtles poem right? 

Martheaus: I see it the same way. We’re only trying to be transparent and reveal a little about ourselves to make it easier for the submitters. Here’s the thing: I’m sure we’ll be updating our “What We’re Into” section as we go along and as we keep learning.

Taylor: It’s interesting you bring up making it easier for submitters, but we are kinda forcing them into an interesting corner to choose between the two of us and join a “team”, why do you think that idea is what we went with? 

Martheaus: It’s all a friendly brawl.

Taylor: Haha, true true. 

Martheaus: We’re playing around the typical “bloodsport” feeling some journals might give. But there’s no real broken noses and bruises at BRAWL. This brawl is more like that time I whooped your ass in Smash Bros. 

Taylor: I have to remind you who won in our footrace though.

Martheaus: I have to remind you that I had just devoured a plate of hot wings, and I’m almost a foot shorter than you, and–unlike you–did not go through five years of college D1 basketball. And now that I say it, it’s embarrassing that I even got close to beating you in a foot race to begin with. Guess Utah State isn’t built to win.

Taylor: Ok fair enough, we definitely weren’t! I do think a little competition is fun, but at the end of the day, I just hope readers know we are doing this with care and love. It’s gonna be rad to get people on our “teams” and publish the things we love. I know there are millions of lit mags out there but I hope people think what we are doing is cool and different and I can’t wait to see what people send us! 

Martheaus: Same here, Tay Tay. I’m excited to ride this T-Rex.