“Roots” by Spencer Ballard

My spine juts just so,
mimics the mountains
who gave me their lungs;
who heralded me above the aspens,
above silly lovers
tittering initials with knives below.
I am a child of the sun and pine,
and sea level does not scare me.

My spine juts just so,
a study of the salty city skyline
where I located my liver;
where the divey met the delicate,
and stubborn love’s
lead smudged silly certainties.
I am a man of moon and Monkshine,
and sea level did not drown me.

***

Read Featured Writer Spencer Ballard’s Q&A on our blog, follow him on Instagram (@spencerjballard), and purchase a copy of peculiar: a queer literary journal 2:1 online.

For our most recent issue of peculiar, we have chosen Spencer Ballard as the Featured Writer. His poetry is vivid and immediate, like a snapshot, and we absolutely love the intimacy and candid nature of his writing style. We asked Spencer to take a break from his studies at the University of Utah to answer a few questions about his writing and being queer in Utah. Here’s what he had to say:

Back in September, at the Provo Pride Festival, peculiar shared a booth with Rock Canyon Poets where copies of both peculiar and Orogeny were sold. There was also an easel set up with paper and marker for Provo Pride attendees to add a line to a community poem. That community poem has since been published in Rock Canyon Poets’ newest chapbook, Inspired, under the title “Kaleidoscope.”

The chapbook was the result of a series of workshops, sponsored in part by Utah Humanities and Pioneer Book, where participants were asked to write a poem in response to another poem or literary work that inspired them. Rock Canyon Poets recently had a launch party and poetry reading to celebrate Inspired‘s release, covered by KBYU. Copies can be purchased online for only $5.

Inspired also contains poems written by peculiar co-editors Aaron Gates (“Sketchbook Girl” and “One Part Vinegar, Two Parts Bleach”) and Jack Garcia (“On Nights When I Am Your Wife” and “Three Pearls”), as well as Matthew A. Jonassaint (“Excerpts from Drafts for a Lost River”), who was featured in peculiar‘s first issue and will be published again in the upcoming second issue.

Alyssa Pyper, who graced us in our first issue with the poems “Archaeologist” and “The Hierophant, Reverse,” is not only a phenomenal poet, but an accomplished musician. Her peculiar bio reads: “Alyssa Pyper is an integrated studies major with emphases in music and creative writing. When she’s not in class, she works as a writing tutor, violin teacher, and plays in bands Quiet House and Bat Manors. She also has a solo project under the moniker of Night Wings.”

Her solo project was recently featured in the video series The Sound of Provo in their third episode entitled “Night Wings.” The film, directed by Melody Chow, won the Best Non-Fiction Award at Brigham Young University’s Final Cut Film Fest. You can watch the short, four-minute film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyaV9Z0OT7g&feature=youtu.be

Alyssa feels her documentary segment is about finding a safe community within a Latter-day Saint culture, which can often be difficult. “Human to human. Can I show you the place where my soul is fragmented?” she asks in a recent Facebook post. “The terrain I circle endlessly.  The community from whom I have sought communion. Can you hear me above the call of policy and principle? Can you look at me, and see me? Can you understand that I, too, am a Mormon girl?”

Both her music and her poetry touch on these themes. In her poem, “The Hierophant, Reverse,” Alyssa writes, “Wading through the complexity that is culture, the confusion that is structure versus heart versus conformity versus authenticity—here I find her, hanging from this delicate thread, a thread that is to question all that one has ever come to know—”

Alyssa’s creative work is like that delicate thread. You can hear more of her music on Bandcamp, and can read her poetry in volume one, issue one of peculiar.

Our dear friend Trish Hopkinson, one of the main organizers of the Provo poetry group, Rock Canyon Poets, also has her own website where she talks about poetry and often posts calls for submissions. She has been published in several journals and offers a lot of support to the staff of peculiar. We love her!

She’s recently been sending submission notices our way that she thinks peculiar writers might also be interested in. So while we’re hard at work making our final selections for the second issue of peculiar, here are some other journals that are currently taking submissions from queer writers:

• Assaracus, currently seeking a portfolio of up to ten poems from specifically gay men.
• Feminist Spaces, currently seeking academic papers, creative writing, and art on the topic “Queering Feminism: LGBTQ and Feminist Intersectionality.” Deadline is October 15th.
• Educe, currently seeking poetry, fiction, and non-fiction from queer writers.
• Crab Fat Magazine, currently seeking poetry, art, fiction, and non-fiction for a special issue celebrating queer people of color. Deadline is December 15th.
• Broad!, currently seeking work from female, trans, and genderqueer writers. Deadline is October 15th.
• Lavender Review, currently seeking poetry and art from lesbian writers and artists.

Of course there are many more, but this should be a good starting place. Happy submitting!

peculiar Co-Editors-in-Chief Aaron Gates and Jack Garcia sat down with SLUG Magazine writer Brian Udall on August 18th to talk about the journal.  The interview was recorded and aired on the magazine’s podcast, SLUG Soundwaves, today, along with an interview with the staff of saltfront, another Utah-based lit journal but with a focus on “eco-lyrical” expressions.  Very cool!

Check out the episode here: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/soundwaves-from-the-underground/e/episode-216-saltfront-peculiar-40282093

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/