static cling zine

hi, thank you for asking! you may not have been expecting an essay of a response, but you're getting one hahah (a more concise version of most of this is on the website's FAQ). and as per my last answered ask, technical guidelines for submissions will be more accessible very soon.

static cling is in its very early stages and is currently a one person operation, founded by @timetruthandheartss (a long-time tumblr user who's usually just reposting cats and whatever they find funny). that said, i may as well continue in first person. i plan to bring on submission readers sometime after the first issue, but i wanted to flesh things out myself before bringing people onto a very new and uncertain project.

some background: in college, i was closely involved with the student literary magazine and served as co-head editor. i made acceptance decisions and was also in charge of the print edition's layout design. since graduating, i've really missed that creative work and having a literary community, so i decided to start my own zine. i designed the website from scratch, created the logo (it's linocut relief printed!), and put out a call for submissions.

my usual creative writing medium is poetry, but i'm also into photography, printing, journalism, and film. i figured since i like pursuing multiple creative mediums, then static cling should be home to a wide range. no limits as long as it can be printed on a page!

college was also when i was first introduced to literary magazines and submitting to them, and i've since had poetry and photography published in some small publications. it felt validating and encouraging to have my writing acknowledged outside of academics, and i want to give other emerging creators the chance to feel the same. that's why static cling prioritizes unpublished creators, in hopes of being the jumping off point they need to build confidence in their work.

having a print edition is also a huge part of static cling's identity. i love doing print layout design, and i think a lot of other creators cherish print media as well, especially as so much transitions to digital. digital zines tend to be more accessible, though, so i want to make the print version as accessible as i can. once production has finished for issue 1, it'll be available for around $5-7 + free or very cheap shipping. i'm also hoping to get it into some independent bookstores as well.

i didn't want static cling's issues to revolve around a certain theme, as it can sometimes prevent creators from submitting the work they feel most confident in. i'm really open to any topic, and especially as a new publication with fewer submissions, i can't really afford to be too picky lmao. the zine will likely develop a more concrete personality with time.

for right now, i'm just looking for weird and unique shit that feels personal! as someone who has been told many a time that my poetry is strange, i welcome strange art. i want work that's been dismissed by others because they "don't get it." sometimes you don't have to get it! sometimes it sounds or looks pretty, but will never fully make sense to others unless the creator explains it at length, and that's okay. and by all means, tackle the difficult topics -- write about identity, about trauma, about the taboo; photograph and paint and draw the ugly parts of the world. as corny as the line "art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" may be, uncomfortable work is frequently my favorite. it's also frequently dismissed and rejected by others, so i want to give it a home.

good question! static cling only accepts unpublished pieces, but is fine with work that is 1) available on your public social media or portfolio and/or 2) published in a school/university student-exclusive publication.

however, if your piece were to be published in static cling and you later wanted to submit to somewhere that accepts published work, that is perfectly fine!