I’m going to try and be as kind as possible, which goes against my grain when I encounter periodicals that are purportedly about writing as lifestyle – that is to say, those publications that seem to want to be about the lifestyle of the writer, whatever that is. Slush is billed as “the zine for success-challenged writers” but its complete failure to provide anything of interest to anyone who is interested in being a professional writer, is on their way to being a professional writer, or wants to know something about the world of writing for money (which is my definition of what makes someone a professional – though not necessarily a good – writer) makes we wonder: What exactly is a “success-challenged” writer? The bulk of this is filled with half-baked bad jokes about what it’s like to be a writer. Stereotypes about starving artists give way to the “conundrum of the month” which has to do with whether or not the would-be writer should be part of a writing group. Ensuing discussion is pat, glib and uninformative – How about a list of writing groups in the Toronto area? How about practical advice on how to start a functioning group that actually helps aspiring writers? How about any kind of advice or information besides the lame and dubious feel-good truism about saying something nice before you say something nasty? Geez, I’m breaking the first rule of critiquing. Well, okay, the interview with Dennis Bock was alright. But it was also symptomatic of what’s wrong with this magazine – all of the questions were about the life of the writer, not the work of the writer. I don’t care if Bock uses a computer or how he felt when his first story was published or what qualities are essential to be a writer (as if there is any other quality to being a writer besides urgency). I want to know what he’s saying and why and how he says it. Not what he eats for breakfast. (HN)
zine, #2, 24 pgs, Bev Rosenbaum, $3.50, 1245 Caledonia Rd., Toronto, ON, M6A 2X6