Space City Underground publishes prose to thirty pages, poetry to twenty pages (max of seven poems), art and reviews, and various forms of art. “We desire to create a space where stellar artists can express themselves unapologetically, free from any oppressive, earthly confines.” Learn more here—and here.
SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Will Faour: Originally, Space City Underground was a joint effort between three people, myself included. We had all worked together on a previous magazine, and once our time there ended, we decided we wanted to keep working on a literary magazine. We held a few meetings to discuss the theme, such as if we wanted a literary magazine that accepted any kind of work or if we should have a more specific focus. All three of us were part of marginalized communities in some manner, be it gender, sexuality, religion, or some combination, and we wanted to use this magazine to platform others in marginalized communities. From our first meetings in 2020, the world has grown more polarized, and as we're now seeing legislation enacted to harm minority groups even more, we all really want to see others use this magazine to let their voices be heard. Even though I'm the only one left with a direct role in the magazine since we started, we all believed in this goal, and the current staff is extremely passionate about it too.
Additionally, on the administrative side, despite my title of editor, we are an explicitly anti-hierarchical magazine. We vote on each decision, and everyone holds the same amount of power. Some participate more than others, but we take everyone's opinions seriously. This ties into why we started SCU: the other founders and I were already against most forms of hierarchy in general, and after some of our previous litmag experiences, we all agreed that SCU would not work if it had a strict hierarchy. Everyone in our staff holding equal power means it's easier for us to find and hear as many voices as we can, and no one ever feels left out. I'd discussed an anti-hierarchical approach with a few co-editors at my previous magazine, but it never panned out. Experimenting with this approach was the other reason for starting this magazine, and so far, it's worked wonderfully for both our staff and our submitters.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?
WF: My answers for this question and the next two will likely differ from some of our other staffers, but as a member of the prose team, I still feel qualified to respond here. In no particular order, I'm looking for storytelling, prose, and identity. When I say storytelling, I mean all of the basics: plot and themes, characters, really anything that draws my interest. We love receiving and reading stories of all genres, but that alone doesn't guarantee publication; what the author is trying to say and how they say it are what stand out here. To that end, prose also plays a key role here. A unique style of prose may be enough for us to decide on publication, but more often than not, it's about how well the prose and storytelling complement each other. I'm a fan of prose that gets to the point while also demonstrating the author's skill with the pen, churning out beautiful words without growing so flowery that it becomes distracting. The rest of the prose team may not necessarily agree, and I can't speak for the poetry team at all, but that's what appeals to me in a story.
In terms of identity, I'd like to start by addressing and dispelling the notion that putting identity first harms a story's quality. If the main character is not a straight, white cis man, or some aspect of the character's identity plays a part in the story itself, it's not "forced," and it doesn't lessen the quality; it simply is a part of the piece, and one that may resonate with plenty of people with similar experiences or looking to see themselves somewhere. To say otherwise is to insinuate that the default characterization or experience for all stories is that of a straight, white cis man, and I don't buy that for one second. With that said, I don't believe one's identity does or doesn't need to be at the forefront of a story. Rather, it shines in the piece they write, appearing through the prose, the characters, the settings, and everything else. Someone may write a story directly about their own experiences, or they may distance themselves from the story and allow their identity to seep in through more subtle ways. They may focus on a GSRM identity, or they may write of their own experiences, knowledge, job history, etc.; but when a part of who the author is appears in the story, no matter how, that creates something beautiful.
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
WF: You can probably tell that I come from a family of journalists when I say typos everywhere. English is an ever-changing language with so many different variations and nuances, and I don't believe in being strict and upholding a 19th-century dictionary's word. Using a different spelling or having one or two typos is fine, and English is hard and filled with plenty of opportunities for stylistic prose, so grammar errs don't bother me either, but unless it's part of the story in some manner, seeing countless typos will give me a negative impression that might otherwise be unearned. Word, Docs, and other programs for writing have spell checks, so not even using that before submitting tells me you don't really care about this piece and just want to have your name out there, and if you don't care, why should we?
This is exceedingly uncommon, and we also take into account ESL speakers. Again, this is just hastily typing something up in a short amount of time and sending it in without even looking over it or hitting f7 once. We tend to be lenient with our deadlines, so there's no need to rush a midnight submission in. Finally, if a piece is filled with errors, but it's clear the writer put effort into it, we can typically look past these errors.
SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?
WF: I just want some indication of what this piece is about. It can be a single line of dialogue, or it can describe the setting of the piece, but I'm not fond of having to guess what I'm reading about at the start. I don't want to speak for the poetry team, but when I look over a poem, I'm interested in the style that presents itself in the opening.
SQF: Your Reviews section is different from most other publications in that it’s not limited to books or collections. Please briefly explain how you came up with the idea.
WF: Thank you for asking about this! Truth be told, the reviews section in its current state is the brainchild of our reviews editor, Ashley. I had a few reviews I was interested in writing and publishing when we started SCU, but Ashley was the one who wanted to turn reviews into its own section. While we love reading, we also love consuming other forms of media such as movies, albums, and video games, and at our previous litmag, we discussed submitting these kinds of reviews. It had already published reviews of movies and albums in addition to books, but a video game review I wrote as an associate editor became the first video game review they had ever published, and there was no pushback at all from the upper staff. Since that was the first litmag Ashley and I worked at, reviewing any medium, rather than just books, has always been the norm to us, and there was never a question about restricting it.
With that said, so far, the only reviews have come from our own staffers. Anyone is welcome to submit a review or literary essay to us!
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
WF: One question a former staffer asked that I've thought about a lot is what my long-term goals for SCU are. It's difficult to think about what the future holds with how everything is changing in the world right now, but I want to stay with this magazine and continue with its mission statement for as long as I can. We held a fundraiser for trans youth with our previous volume, and I'd like to keep doing those kinds of things moving forward. SCU is a literary magazine, but it's not just that to me. I think that litmags themselves can be a form of art, and I like seeing SCU as its own art, which will continue growing and developing for as long as possible. If I can learn that we helped even one person feel safer or better, then that'll be a success to me. In the long term, I want SCU to be a platform that helps as many people as possible and makes the world a better place.
Thank you, Will. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
"No MFA graduates."
ReplyDeleteWhat a strange limitation for submissions.