Dear Identity Theory Readers,
Listen, I don’t know what’s gonna happen in this newsletter. I spent the whole week tweeting and figuring out which pieces to accept for the site, and I kinda forgot to make a plan to publish something this week. Also, I neglected to think about the newsletter. Truth be told, I’m half asleep today.
So, this afternoon, I chose four of the most ready-to-publish pieces in our queue (those are called “poems”) and assigned them numbers. Then I put those numbers in a Twitter poll and asked people to pick a number. The winning number was three. Unbeknownst to the voters, the number three belonged to “Ruskin and the Horses” by Jack Bedell. So that is what we published today:
It wasn’t exactly
fear they smelled coming offhis skin, more like a desire
for something static, or frozenin stone. His was a steady malaise
against the electricity of life
Read the rest of Jack Bedell’s poem.
Other Ways to Head Upstream
It’s Friday, so I always have an Alan Michael Parker cartoon to bail me out when I’ve forgotten to make a plan. Here’s this week’s comic:
Looks kinda like a poet, that French guy. Poets are always heading upstream.
Breaking Records and Taking Poems
This week, we went on an acceptance spree. It was most likely a record for Identity Theory acceptances in a week. It’s still baffling that people send us their writing, but we’ll keep publishing it as long as you keep sending it. We’re happy that you think of us.
Gratitude is the Key to Abundance
What is that supposed to mean? I don’t know. I heard that sentence once and it kinda made sense. I bring it up because a merry band of readers chose to support us by sending donations this week, and I am extremely grateful for that.
My goal in continuing to raise money is to upgrade our website host/server this month and then come up with a way to offer more compensation for our writers if possible. Until I devise a more official plan, I’ll be sending random donuts and other goodies, including these retro stickers I found:
It’d be cool if one of you out there in the universe could help us design a new batch of stickers, mugs, and other gear to send our contributors. Contact me about it if you enjoy our site and have the slightest shred of graphic design skills and want to help us make stuff. (Think of all the corgi t-shirts you could create.) Don’t force me to hunt down some rando on Fiverr, please!
Anyway, we’re still accepting donations, and we’ll offer new ways for you to get involved with our site in the coming weeks/months/years.
Oh, speaking of which, we’re still taking applications for fiction editors for the next two weeks or so.
Good Stuff From the Identity Theory Archives
Revisit our 2003 interview with Percival Everett, who just won a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Critics Circle.
Past interviewees Azar Nafisi and Amy Bloom have recently released new books.
This Newsletter Is Beyond Redemption, so How About a Nice Cut-and-Paste From the Previous Newsletter?
It’s Friday, I’m tired, and there’s probably a hot new discourse on Twitter you don’t want to miss by reading more of this email, so here’s a hack job of a conclusion for you, which I ripped straight out of last week’s newsletter:
Eat your Wheaties!
Drink your Ovaltine!
Oh, and have a nice weekend!
Sorry to Disappoint—Next Week May or May Not Be Better,
Matt Borondy
World’s Laziest Editor
Identity Theory
*drinks Ovaltine*