Newsletter #11

ASTER(ix)

We are happy to share some exciting news with you this month. Aster(ix) was granted a residency retreat for 2016-2017 at Blue Mountain Center where up to 20 writers will convene to build our ever growing community. We were also favorably reviewed by Review Review.

Lit Mag Committed to Social Change is Intense, Provocative, and Simply Good Reading.

Aster(ix) Journal is a beautiful online magazine that serves up intersectional voices, stories, cultural criticism, art, and more. Aster(ix) Journal is a rare bird in today‘s literary magazine scene—diversity is presented as the norm, not the exception. And it is not announced, it is demonstrated.

AWP

We will be presenting our new issue, Atravesando, an anthology, in collaboration with Blue Sketch Press, edited by Angie Cruz and Oindrila Mukherjee, bringing together some of the best fiction and poetry the world has to offer. Contributors include: Yvette Benavides, Amy Elizabeth Bishop, Chris Carmona, Fiona Cheong, Alexandria Delcourt, Araceli Esparza, Andree Greene, Cathy Guo, Leticia Hernández, H. N. Holder, Didi Jackson, Ani Kazarian, Erin Koehler, Raina León, Katherinna Mar, Keya Mitra, Robin Scofield, Grace Singh Smith and Kelsey Valadez.

Please come by and visit us at Table 227. Copies will be available for purchase. Contributors and editors will be present at the table throughout the day.

New In Asterisms: Unbound and Noteworthy

“Una’s narrative voice is clear and sparse, and it is the hybrid memoir’s illustrations that take on the role of relaying memory and acute psychic suffering.” From Una’s Unbecoming/Becoming is a Must Read by Sue Rainsford

Microeditorials

“In the kitchen, she remembers Audre’s words: “I am myself—a Black woman warrior poet doing my work—come to ask you, are you doing yours?” From This is How by Daisy Hernandez

“What will happen if I miss videos of pandas playing in snow, or the announcement of a benefit dance party in a nearby town, or a link to an interview with Toni Morrison and Angela Davis?” From Why I’m Taking a Little Break from Facebook by Arielle Greenberg

“The editors of these journals shared a commitment to challenging artistic, social, and linguistic boundaries, which linked experimentalism and feminism.”
From Inside Jane Heap’s Boudoir “The Best Conversation the World Has to Offer” by Jenelle Troxell

“Our words must turn even the most hardened and possibly disinterested reader into someone who feels as deeply as we do about the lives that we have led, witnessed, or the people that we have created.” From Empathy Overdose by Edwidge Danticat

“The history of the novel shows us that our differences are what unite us and that fiction helps to create empathy and compassion. There needs to be more translation. If you don’t write in English it’s hard to get your books out there.” From Fast Close, an Interview with Jennifer Clement by Angie Cruz

“He reduced Rihanna to hot pussy. Her artistry was irrelevant as long as she was deemed sexually desirable.” From 5 Ways Chris Rock Mocked Black Women for the Amusement of a White Audience

As many of you know Aster(ix) is a work of puro amor devoted to writers, artists, thinkers and activists committed to social change. It runs on crazy midnight-oil kind of energy and thrives on word-of-mouth. So thank you to all of you who tweet, Instagram, and subscribe to our newsletter, who like our FB page and cite us in your work. Thank you also to those who choose to support through donations and more.

Enjoy!