Back in August we told you about the literary journal qu.ee/r Magazine, which is “committed to encouraging LGBTQ contributions to the artistic canon through the publication of innovative and beautiful literary fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry, and visual art” and also happens to be headed by our own Tech & Geekery editor Ali Osworth and DIY/Home editor Sarah Hansen. Now we’re here to tell you that qu.ee/r’s first issue is here, and I’m proud to report it’s fantastic!
Issue 1, “The Call to Adventure,” includes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, interview and visual art with impressive variety and diversity. Even within genres, there’s great range; poetry runs the gamut from narrative to lyrical and engages in different ways with language and form; prose explores themes from family to infidelity to the weird spark of human connection with a stranger. Mostly, I was aware of the depth and complexity of the work, and how well it spoke to the depth and complexity of queer experiences. In August, Ali told us that “Much of the time, queer authors are relegated to telling stories about identity or queerness, but there’s so much more we want to write about!” This issue proves that that’s possible — there’s gobs of work out there made by queer artists that isn’t confined to coming out stories, identity struggles, or crushes on straight girls, and it’s really good.
Exposure (a poem by Seamus Heaney), art by Stefana McClure, photo by Ali Osworth
qu.ee/r’s first issue is more than worth your time to check out, and has so much going on in it that you’ll definitely find something to your liking. Standouts for me were Sarah Maria Medina’s eerie poem “Photo of a Boy in Suspenders Taken by Gus Van Sant,” Jonathan Mack’s prose piece about a mysterious and maybe life-saving encounter with a stranger, “Ghost Guide,” and Mandy Gutmann-Gonzalez’s heartbreaking family portrait, “Equinox.” But don’t take my word for it — go find out for yourself what your favorite piece in here is!
The link with the text “Issue 1…” is broken.
thank you, it’s fixed now!
very excited to look at this!
We’re very excited that you’re excited to look at this!
I love, love, loved the poem “California.” And “Ten Thousand Things.” Beautiful!
Don’t we just have the best authors/poets/artists?!
wonderful!
“Much of the time, queer authors are relegated to telling stories about identity or queerness, but there’s so much more we want to write about!” This issue proves that that’s possible — there’s gobs of work out there made by queer artists that isn’t confined to coming out stories, identity struggles, or crushes on straight girls, and it’s really good.
So true! Thanks for sharing. I’m excited to read the whole darn thing.