{"id":777,"date":"2022-12-04T07:10:59","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T07:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/wordpress\/greenblotter\/?p=777"},"modified":"2022-12-04T07:10:59","modified_gmt":"2022-12-04T07:10:59","slug":"review-of-unstamatics-unconditional-acceptance-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/2022\/12\/04\/review-of-unstamatics-unconditional-acceptance-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of Unstamatic\u2019s Unconditional* Acceptance Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

reviewed by Isaac Fox<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image from Unstamatic<\/em>.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

In late October, Unstamatic<\/em> magazine announced a submissions call that, to my knowledge, is the first of its kind: they promised to accept every submission they received (unless it was hateful\u2014hence the asterisk). The result is an unfiltered collection of over 400 pieces of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, visual art, hybrid work, and goodness knows what else.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I co-wrote a piece published in the Unconditional* Acceptance Issue. Because of the unique nature and enormous size of the issue, however, I\u2019ve decided to write about it anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Without submission guidelines as a limiting factor, a diverse array of artists created a diverse array of work. Some people submitted pieces that would fit in with more traditional issues of literary magazines: many of the poems (including Dylan Mabe\u2019s ambiguous, sonorous \u201cMountain Food<\/a>\u201d) share a style and mood with some of the big-name poetry journals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other writers innovated outside the bounds of the literary world\u2019s usual selectivity and gatekeeping. A few of their pieces are hybrid works that wouldn\u2019t fit within most magazines\u2019 genre-based submission categories: for example, Sylvia Santiago\u2019s arresting \u201cXXIX<\/a>\u201d toys with old printing practices and an Emily Dickinson poem to blur the line between poetry and visual art. Other pieces (like Eleanor Dickenson\u2019s joyful, humorous \u201cThe Amateur\u2019s Guide to Extreme Baking<\/a>\u201d and Wes Viola\u2019s warm, tranquil celebration of poetry, \u201cWood Have<\/a>\u201d) overflow with the unabashed positive emotions that contemporary literature often shies away from. There are also a few works mixed in that are frankly a little baffling. (Sorry; you\u2019ll have to find those on your own.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of the finest pieces in the Unconditional* Acceptance Issue stand out for their tonal daring. Haley Byer\u2019s \u201cA Post-Grad Shark Tries to Find Her Way to the Ocean<\/a>\u201d combines gorgeous prose and weighty emotions with some deeply ridiculous imagery. In Matthew Dunko\u2019s \u201cMaury<\/a>,\u201d an unreliable narrator\u2019s breezy, often comical voice makes the story\u2019s psychological nuance and social satire all the more disturbing. Graham Bishop\u2019s \u201cTo All the Humans<\/a>\u201d juxtaposes a stylistically understated free-verse poem with a brightly colored, abstract crayon-and-pen drawing, both of which share a frantic, overwhelmed tone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d Unstamatic<\/em>\u2019s editors write, referring to their reasons for putting this issue together. \u201cWe don\u2019t know. Because we\u2019d never seen it done before (though it may well have been), because it felt like something of a statement (about what, we\u2019re not sure), because it was funny (it was).\u201d The issue that came out of their experiment is stunningly successful, both as an answer to \u201cWhat would happen if\u2026\u201d and as a work of art. Its \u201cRandom Post\u201d button provides an unguided tour of over 400 wildly varied works\u2014a diverse, vibrant display of creativity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaac Fox is a student at Lebanon Valley College, where he majors in English and creative writing. When he\u2019s not reading or writing something assigned, he\u2019s probably reading or writing something unassigned. His work has also appeared in Tiny Molecules<\/i>,\u00a0Rune Bear<\/i>,\u00a0Heart of Flesh<\/i>, and\u00a0Rejection Letters<\/i>. You can find him on Twitter at @isaac_k_fox.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

reviewed by Isaac Fox In late October, Unstamatic magazine announced a submissions call that, to my knowledge, is the first of its kind: they promised to accept every submission they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,4],"class_list":["post-777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-isaac-fox","tag-literary-magazine-review","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}