Idaho State University has its very own literary journal. This isn't a new thing -- they've had one for years, but a few years ago they changed its name and how it works and lots of other things.

It used to be Ethos, but now it's called Black Rock and Sage.

The J-Spot has been spending time with one of the students who works with the journal. A couple of weeks ago the J-Spot started talking to me about submitting to BR&S, which cracks me up, but that's another story for another time. Now, frankly, I don't write literary stuff. I just don't. Not that I don't enjoy the good literary stuff, mind you; I do. But I don't enjoy the angsty-artsy garbage the tends to permeate a lot of college writing (like the poem that's all about taking one's clothes off and having sex with one's boyfriend and does he really love me, and something about my angry lesbian breasts (though at this time it was unlikely for ISU to have anything to do with a woman's breasts...).

In any event, I had the J-Spot ask his friend if BR&S will accept stuff like slipstream. The kids basic reply was that one should send in whatever and if the editors and readers like it they'll publish it.

Does this mean there are no genre boundaries?

It's possible.

There's a professor at ISU who specializes in Magical Realism. And Brian Attebery is on staff.

Now, the kid the J-Spot was talking to doesn't know what Slipstream is. This doesn't surprise me. I mean, how does one define slipstream? How does one explain it? It's a really fuzzy thing. And it's not the most popular thing to read in this part of the world.

So, if you were to be describing Slipstream to an English major freshman, how would you explain it and what would you have them read so they would have a basic grasp on the concept?


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By the way, BR&S is currently open to submissions from all over the world, so if you have something you'd like to submit, go and do.