Editor Interview: Villain Era

Revenge in literary form

DIAGRAM, Diode, Foglifter, American Poetry Review, Ninth Letter, Quarterly West, Passages North, HAD, Black Warrior Review

Claudia Rankine, C.D. Wright, Maggie Smith, Kelly Foster Lundquist, Denise Duhamel, Louise Glück, James Wright, Sylvia Plath

I don't know if there are any other literary magazines focused on the literature of revenge, first and foremost. And certainly many are focused on justice. But I think Villain Era sits at the intersection of revenge and justice, two intertwined ideas that look different depending on which angle you view them from. We will publish writing in any genre or cross-genre work as long as it is about settling a score or settles a score in the act of being written. But we are not a mean-spirited magazine; there is a fine line between justice and harm, and we walk it.

We interpret the theme very broadly, so we don't just want to see work about a protagonist getting revenge (though we do like to see that). Sometimes we want to root for the villain. Sometimes we want to see justice served. We love a good, honest confession. We love folks who tell on themselves directly or indirectly. The best advice is try us. And I think the next best advice is violence for the sake of violence is not what we're looking for (and that on-page violence is seldom what we look for). The next best advice after that is there are a lot of ways of writing about justice that aren't personal. Though we love it when it's personal, too.

The ideal submission lists its genre in the subject line, has a brief cover letter that does not have to be funny, and has an attachment. It should have a unique, personal voice. And it should demonstrate good command of craft.

Sending work that is too mean-spirited or violent. Obviously our logo is a knife, so I'm not suggesting we haven't encouraged it. We have published work that includes violence, but there is another kind of work that is too gleeful in its violence. The violence doesn't seem just, so maybe it's work in which the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

Very little honestly. I only look at the creative work. Someone's bio, where else they've published, whether they're just starting out or in the game for decades--none of that matters. We've been someone's first publication, and we've published writers with long careers. Everyone has a place here. I just want to see writing that moves or delights me.

If I can't hold my attention on it to read to the end, it's a no. Something that does hold my attention to the end has an extremely good chance of being accepted. Occasionally if the first few lines or paragraphs don't get me, but I'm hooked just after, I'll ask the author if they're open to edits. Sometimes I'll get all the way to the end and feel like it's still just not right, or I'll get partway through and feel like I'm into the voice but not the piece, I'll ask the author to submit again.

I work on Villain Era sporadically, usually on the weekends, so there are weeks where it doesn't get attention. It's a one-person labor of love. I try to respond to submissions within 30 days if I can help it.

Usually very little, unless it's to encourage a piece to start later or end earlier.

Yes, we've nominated for Best of the Net and want to nominate for as many things as we can.

Out of my own pocket :(

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