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Editor Interview: L'Esprit Literary Review

Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.

Writing Beyond Convention

What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?

West Trade Review
The Militant Grammarian
Tangled Locks Journal
A Thin Slice of Anxiety
The Collidescope

If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?

Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Zadie Smith, Rachel Cusk, Lucy Corin, Lucy Ives, Lucy Ellmann, Aysegül Savas, Emily Hall, Roberto Bolaño, Anne Carson, Maggie Nelson, Marcel Proust, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Dorrit Cohn.

What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?

Our championing of fearless, revolutionary writing without regard for the dictums of marketability or commercialism.

What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?

Read what we've published, and send us your best.

Describe the ideal submission.

Fearless.

What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?

We do not publish poetry.

How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?

Cover letters are optional; they're interesting but in no way dispositive.

If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?

Every situation is different; there is no one answer to this question.

What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?

Every piece is evaluated solely on merit.

What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?

Running the journal is a labor of love and literary expression; there is no typical day. Submissions are read and discussed as soon as we can get to them. We value our contributors' time.

How much do you edit an accepted piece prior to publication?

This also depends entirely on the piece itself. The author always has final approval.

Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?

Yes, all major literary awards.

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