Exist Otherwise Issue 12 is Live
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“In everyday life, we waste words and gestures because we have time to lose and no one is looking, but the actor, a thousand eyes follow his movements and he has only an hour or two to transmit the drama that he performs, it is therefore indispensible that he act and speak with the greatest economy, on stage no waste, nothing must be lost.” —Claude Cahun
Happy Friday the 13th
I am very pleased to finally launch Issue 12, which was originally slated to appear in July. This issue, the final one for 2024, closes out Volume II (with 5 issues).
Volume I consisted of 6 issues, and I had planned the same for Volume II, but this summer I had to admit to myself that publishing every other month was too stressful for a one-person literary joint. Beginning in January, Exist Otherwise will be published quarterly.
This was probably the hardest issue to prepare due to the volume and quality of submissions. If you received a notice of declination, please know you are in very good company. I had to turn down many works that I truly loved. One thing I’m most proud of with EO is the delightful diversity of voices that each issue brings.
The writing in 12 is a bit less varied in form, with most of the works being poetry, but that’s only because of what is being submitted. Here’s a tip for 2025: I am especially interested in personal essays written as creative non-fiction, autofiction, surrealist memoir, and hybrid works such as prose/poetry, poetic scripts, and anything just plain hard to classify.
I’ll be making some changes in layout and style beginning with Issue 13. I’m not sure exactly what the changes will be but I’m looking forward to experimenting with page layout and formatting, to move away from what til now has been somewhat traditional in form.
Please consider using the comments feature on the website to let contributors know how their work has impacted you. Likewise, I am always open to any kind of feedback— even criticism —of any aspect of this journal.
Thanks for being here, and happy reading,
Eric Jennings
Exist Otherwise
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