From the Editor
Summer 2010
Anniversary
__Well, folks, it’s been just over a year since 5x5 printed its first issue, and we’d like to say thanks to all of you who’ve been with us since the beginning. We’ve really grown a lot in the last year: from publishing primarily our own work, to publishing the work of our friends, to receiving around 300 submissions for this issue alone.
__So far, we can honestly say that each issue has gotten better: more artists, more art, and we’ve learned some lessons about printing that have helped us produce a better looking, higher quality magazine. With the state of the economy, and given the number of literary magazines that fall apart in the first year, I’d say we’ve been fortunate to have readers and contributors keeping 5x5 alive.
__What’s changed? If you were with us in the very beginning you know that the format and even the title used to be, well, not as good. That second-hand saddle stapler I bought off Ebay has gotten a lot of use. We’re still in the process of becoming a full-fledged nonprofit organization, and most recently, we added a member to our staff. Emma Trithart (that’s pronounced “trit-heart”) is our new Visual Arts Editor. You can read more about her at our website, and hers.
__With the theme of this issue being Self, and given we didn’t receive an abundance of visual arts submissions (hook us up, yo), we thought it would be fitting for Emma to draw a picture of herself for the cover of this issue. Not something we plan to make a habit of, but how awesome is that cover? We love having Emma as a member of our staff.
__We also love that you read 5x5, and if you haven’t already submitted something, or even if you have, please submit. We really see 5x5 as a community project. Without submissions from artists, subscriptions from readers, and just the overall encouragement we’ve received over this past year, 5x5 would be another literary magazine that was fun for a little while, but then fell apart.
__Thanks for helping to keep the dream alive.
__Sincerely,
__Bradley Wonder
__Editor in Chief
Spring 2010
Brevity
__5x5 is more than the title of our magazine, it is also the size. 5 inches long and 5 inches wide. We chose this format in order to create a conveniently sized, quick-hit of literature suitable for the reader of the fast-paced culture we live in.
__The length of a submission is a make it or break it guideline for us at 5x5. We are asking you, the writer, to meet length restrictions and themed issues with not only your utmost creativity, but also the extent of your editing abilities. So…think you have the best poem possible for 5x5’s upcoming issue—that every word, enjambment, and syllabic rhythm is miraculous—but it’s 50 lines long?
__Consider your delete key, or the slightly more grandiose backspace button. Can you say it in 40 lines? Literary pack-rats can copy and paste extra lines into a blank document, because, well, they might come in handy someday. 25 lines? Can you reduce your poem to one line, or even one word? Okay, maybe not that far, but the idea is to find concisely what your poem is not. 5x5 seeks literature that says enough, and leaves the rest to the imagination of our readers.
__Sincerely,
_
__Mishon A. Wooldridge
__Poetry Editor
Winter 2009
Themes
__Along with our submissions, we have gotten some comments about our decision to focus each issue of 5x5 around a single-word theme. Many are supportive. Others said that it’s difficult to write something in 500-600 words without adding a theme on top of it.
__While 5x5 believes that all the writing we publish is quality work, we want there to be more to tie each issue together. That’s right; we want to put a ribbon on it. But we also ask our readers and writers to remember that the single word themes are meant to be suggestive only. For example, when we chose LOUD, the first thought in my head was The Smiths 1987 album “Louder than Bombs.” (Which I play a few times a month.) I also remembered during the ’80s my mother favored wearing loud tropical prints. As a poet, I am always looking at language. I noticed “loud” creeping into other words, “cLOUD” which did not seem noisy at all. Finally, loud looks and sounds quite a bit like the Latin word laude which means “honors or accolades.”
__As one of the editors of 5x5 I encourage people to play with our themes. If need be, tell us your leaps of imagination and wordplay with your email submissions. Remember, we don’t want to box you in.
__These themes are starting places, but where they take your writing, drawing and photography is entirely up to you.
__Our next two themes are SELF and CLEAR. And if you haven’t listened to the album “Louder than Bombs,” please do so, perhaps while you read this issue.
__Sincerely,
_
__Jory M. Mickelson
__Nonfiction Editor
