At 7pm the program began with a brief introduction by Rock Canyon Poets co-founder Bonnie Shiffler-Olsen.  The co-editors of peculiar, Aaron Gates and Jack Garcia, each read their “Editor’s Foreword.”  Spencer Ballard read “Without Sugar” (61), “Grasshopper Games” (56), and “Red Bull and God” (3).  Brett Kesler read “Grey” (25) and Teasia-Larin Bingham read “Why Hadn’t Anyone Told Me?” (26), including a new introduction to the piece.  Kajsa Nelson read a five-minute excerpt of her fictional short story, “Let Her Go” (15).  Matthew A. Jonassaint read “Jeff Bridges” (36) and a couple of poems not featured in the journal, including “Mixed Tape.”  Hannah Irene wrapped up the peculiar portion of the night with zir reading of “Monogamy” (52) and a thrilling bit of slam poetry entitled “How to be Queer in Utah.”

The remaining fifteen minutes of the evening was an open mic, finishing with a reading by Bonnie Shiffler-Olsen who officially ended the program.

The launch party was a great success and we officially sold out of every print copy of peculiar.  A PDF version will soon be up on the website.

To submit work for volume 1, issue 2, visit us at: http://www.peculiarjournal.com/#!submit/c1p8z

Thursday, C0-Editor Jack Garcia and featured poet Spencer Ballard met with KRCL 90.9‘s Lara Jones for a recorded radio interview.  Lara’s segment, The R.O.I., features “stories of people, non-profits and businesses who create a positive return on investment in the community.”  During the interview, Jack Garcia talked about how peculiar positively impacts the queer community within Utah:

“We want the journal to celebrate queer voices… that are sometimes not very well represented in this state.”

After the brief interview with Lara, Spencer Ballard was given a chance to read his poem “Red Bull and God”:

“He was every plot twist,/ the greatest novel I ever read./ The ellipses I will live with, dying/ for a sequel that can never be written.”

To hear the full interview, visit KRCL’s website: http://www.krcl.org/roi_peculiar/

Our first ever blog post.  Let it be written.

Jack Garcia, a recent Utah Valley University graduate, and Aaron Gates, a current UVU student—both English majors—decided to start peculiar out of a love for writing and a hope to recognize the creative talents of the often overlooked queer community within Utah’s unique culture. Emily Mattson, a graphic designer, came later to the project as Creative Director and designed the visual elements of the journal both inside and out. Together they seek to publish quality works regardless of theme or genre and only ask that contributors identify as queer and live within Utah.

A new issue of peculiar will be published every spring and fall. The first issue was completed in May 2015 with funding from a small Kickstarter campaign. Volume 1, Issue 1 is 80 pages long and features a collection of poetry and short stories by 21 queer Utah writers, many of whom have never been published before. The editors also hope to print art and photography in future issues.

An official launch party will be held at Pioneer Book in Provo, Utah, on July 14^th at 7:00 PM. Select contributors to the journal will read their poetry and prose, including Spencer Ballard, Brett Kesler, Teasia-Larin Bingham, Kajsa Nelson, Matthew A. Jonassaint, Hannah Irene, and Jai Hamid Bashir.  Copies of the journal will be available for purchase.

The Facebook event is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/680077002098092/