Six Questions for Stephanie Guo, Founder/Editor-in-Chief, Slippage

Slippage publishes original, previously unpublished poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, scientific research papers, artwork, and photography.

(Ceased publication)

SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?

SG: Artistic merit, scientific accuracy, and a compelling story. 

SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?

SG: Grammatical/mechanical errors, stilted dialogue, thematic irrelevance (does not address our underlying theme of science/art), wordiness, redundancy, glaring scientific inaccuracies, and flat characters, to name a few.

SQF: Which of the following statements is true and why? Plot is more important than character. Character is more important than plot. Plot and character are equally important. 

SG: We believe that plot and character are equally important. Both work to further the other, so it’s important to strike a good balance. 

SQF: What advice can you offer new authors hoping to publish their first submission in Slippage?

SG: Check out the ‘Need Inspiration’ tab on our website (www.slippagelitmag.co.nr) to see some actual examples of the intersection of science and art. We don’t consider pieces that are thematically irrelevant, so it’s important to make sure that your piece actually addresses the confluence of science and art. To get a better idea of what it means to address our theme, you may want to browse through previously published work, all of which is available online (again, at www.slippagelitmag.co.nr) for free. 

SQF: Slippage publishes scientific literary writing. Could briefly explain what this is?

SG: Scientific literary writing is literary verse, fiction, and creative nonfiction incorporating scientific concepts/diction/figures in a significant and meaningful way. What differentiates scientific literary writing from the extant genres of science fiction and speculative poetry is its emphasis on accurate science. Ideally, a good piece of scientific literary writing should possess both artistic and scientific merit. An exemplary piece of scientific literary writing also proposes a new hypothesis to an existing scientific crux. This is our ultimate goal: the practical union of science and art. We believe that the metaphors, analogies, models, and holism inherent in art are integral to the hypothesis generation process in science - - as Marc Quinn once said, "...science is looking for answers and art is looking for questions" - - that is, art can provide the questions for science to answer.

Although we aren't quite there yet, through promoting and publishing scientific literary writing, we aim to provide a platform for thought-provoking discussion between artists and scientists.

SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?

SG: What is the most common scientific topic you see in submissions?

A: It's a tie between the God Particle and the Hubble Space Telescope. That isn’t to say we dislike hearing about the God Particle or the Hubble Space Telescope; just make sure you have something original to say about them! 

Thank you, Stephanie. We all appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.

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