Whitman’s newest literary journal quarterlife is starting its second year of publication this fall, with the first issue is set to be released Oct. 12. Can’t keep all of Whitman’s creative outlets straight? According to whitman.edu/quarterlife, this journal is “published four times a year featuring poetry, short fiction, drama, creative nonfiction, analytic essays, alternative journalism and any other sort of literary work Whitman students might create.”
At the close of the final week for submissions, editor-in-chief Kim Hooyboer answered some questions about what makes this project unique to Whitman.
Pio: What does quarterlife bring to Whitman that nothing else does?
Kim Hooyboer: quarterlife is an exercise in creative subjectivity, a celebration of the conceptual diversity of Whitman writers when presented with a single theme. Each quarterlife theme acts as the proverbial elephant in the dark, fragmented by individual perception: each portion is ostensibly unconnected but ultimately relevant to the whole. Every piece illuminates a different aspect of the theme. In this way, quarterlife magazine participates in the writing process. The magazine is not as an indifferent vehicle by which writing is published, but rather as a dynamic medium for which writing is produced.
Pio: What is the theme this quarter, and where did it come from?
KH: This issue’s theme is “Under the Influence.” When our staff selected the themes for the year, we wanted to choose topics that would be conducive to a diverse array of interpretations. As such, “Under the Influence” reaches far beyond the cliche of substances. Each person is inevitably caught under the influence of a variety of factors: religion, social norms, authority figures, friends, our need to relate to others, our own subjectivity. Many of our influences have been so inculcated that we might spend the majority of our lives trying to shirk (or, conversely, to accept) them. Particularly during our quarterlives, we experience a developing awareness of the existence of these influences and, subsequently, find ourselves struggling against these externalities in an attempt to uncover
our true selves.
Pio: What’s different about quarterlife this year? Were any changes made in how the staff is working, or how the journal is being approached?
KH: Because quarterlife is a fairly new publication (we’re going into our second year), the magazine infrastructure is still rather dynamic. Volume 1, although highly successful for considering it was our first year, was at times a bit haphazard. For Volume 2 we’ll be focusing more on the quality of featured work, as well as the visual aesthetics of the magazine itself. This year, quarterlife is composed of a 10-person staff, all of whom are wonderfully passionate about the magazine. Another exciting development is that we’ve opened up submissions for cover art, to allow a medium for visual art that we were previously unable to fulfill. quarterlife will be increasing our production substantially to allow for an increased readership. We’ll also be throwing some wicked release parties, so stay tuned for our first issue, set to be released on Oct. 12.
To find out more about what quarterlife is about, log on to whitman.edu/quarterlife, and check student listservs for when submissions are being accepted.
