The Weekly Atticus (10/28/2017)

A recap of the week at Atticus Review, along with some extras.

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Dear ,I've always disliked the use of the word "submit" when referring to sending writing to magazines. It's the same word we use when we talk about things like the training of dogs, or the surrendering in war, or even ... certain types of sex play. It introduces an inherent hierarchy and power dynamic, which rubs me the wrong way. If you look up the word "submit," the first two definitions of the word (when used without an object) are these:1) "To yield oneself to the power or authority of another." Example: Bernard submitted to his boss's demand that he shave his beard for work on the burger assembly line, but he silently protested by never wearing underwear.  2) "To allow oneself to be subjected to some kind of treatment." Example: If you were watching Karen's face carefully, you would almost say that she had cracked a smile when she submitted herself to the electroshock therapy.It's not until we get to the third one, that we arrive at something approaching the way we use it when we "submit" to a literary magazine: 3) "To defer to another's judgment, opinion, decision, etc." Ah, yes. Here's what we do. We open ourselves to judgement from strangers about our creative work, which is often deeply personal and revealing. We ask these strangers to give us their opinions about our words, which effectively feels like them giving opinions about us as humans. Is my story well-told? (Am I smart/clever/a genius?) Do you like it? (Do you like me?)We may as well buy a whip and some nipple clamps. It's a masochistic endeavor, to be sure.No matter how much we tell ourselves, that "rejection is not feedback," as Allison K Williams wrote this week on Brevity's Nonfiction Blog, it still sounds an awful lot like it. I mean, listen to it: "RE-JEC-TION." Ah, that's the stuff. Let it sink in. And then there's the opposite: "Acceptance." Yes. The rush of endorphins. The butterflies. The giddiness. The business of publishing makes use of the same vocabulary as my sixth-grade crush on Jenny Fuller (not her real name, but very close).So what's the answer? A few weeks ago in The Weekly Atticus, Fiction Editor Michelle Ross talked about one way:  She belongs to a group of writers who hold a "rejection contest." They turn rejections into a source of pride and a symbol of growth. What I like about this is that it shifts "rejection" into a kind of "acceptance." One way to think of the word "acceptance" is as "belonging," and in gathering rejections, we all "belong."The language we use around the business of publishing is sorta messed up. But I'm not suggesting we change it. I mean, we couldn't even if we wanted to. These are the language games we've devised to talk about this thing we do. (We've even turned the "submit" word into a nifty dot-com that is the centerpiece of the whole shebang.) But I do think it's useful to pay attention and think about the other meanings these words have and the subtle effect they could have on our emotional well-being. Just something to think about when you get that 10th rejection of the day, which of course comes on a Friday night, while you're alone and three fingers deep into a bottle of Jameson, eating dark chocolate salted-caramel truffles, watching Season 4, Episode 1 of Mad Men. (Again.) Wearing nipple clamps.  Or, you know, whatever it is you do to deal with rejection.Some good stuff to check out below. Thanks for reading. We're glad you're here.

David OlimpioPublisher and Editor-in-Chief

TRIVIA QUESTION: What is the actual book Don is reading in this scene? 

ATTICUS NEWS

THANKS TO EVERYBODY WHO SUBMITTEDTO OUR FLASH FICTION CONTEST!!We received a lot of submissions.The competition will be stiff!Winners will be announced on November 27th, 2017 

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FERAL TOWN by Adam Gustavson

GENNADY

BOOK REVIEW: A Vast Body of WaterA review of THIS ACCIDENT OF BEING LOST by Leanne Betasamosake SimpsonReview by Dylan Kinnett"On the whole, it is delightfully easy to get lost in this new book by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. It isn’t a disorienting feeling. Instead it is a trek across a range of territories that are as vivid as they are diverse. These stories and songs, they’re all poems in a sense. The territories they traverse are largely internal ones. It may introduce you to places you’ve never been, names you’ve never named. There are no apologies or explanations for those, only comparisons. “You’re alone in your head for days on end, just wondering if you actually can die of loneliness.” Enjoy the journey."READ MORE

FICTION: Moose Without AntlersBy David Mohan"Lauren had seen her first moose as a child out camping with her parents.  The animal had seemed extraordinary, Mesolithic at first: the breadth of those antlers, the wheezy whoosh of its breath through those snooty nostrils. But then the moose had become as commonplace in her mind as anything unlooked for."READ MORE

POETRY: Dr. Phil and I Take Down the Halloween Decorationsby Katy Darby Mullins"The smell of week-old jack-o-lantern wafts sweetlyto remind me that decay is coming, and soonthe face will rot inward, caking the candlewith layers of useless, weather-worn fruit."READ MORE

CNF: The Autumn GardenBy Enid Kassner"The autumn garden flourishes also in its diverse roots. There is a satisfaction in overcoming the resistant earth when tugging feathery carrot tops to pull out thick orange roots. Their narrow tips extend one last skinny tendril that searched for nutrients. Beet greens and turnip greens spread wide, but curl their dry edges as they await harvest."READ MORE

FILM REVIEW: Second Time’s the CharmA Review of HBO's The DeuceBy Alison Lanier"The Deuce isn’t a perfect show by any stretch, but the stellar minds and talent of David Simon and George Pelecanos, two operative creatives behind The Wire, shows a mile away."READ MORE

ATTICUS AUTHOR NEWS – OCTOBER, 2017Here’s the latest from Atticus Review author alumni, including Robert Boucheron, George Drew, Maggie Graber, and Jolene McIlwain.READ MORE