New literary magazine: Palabra, A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art

Interview with Elena Minor

Interview by Marcela Landres

Elena Minor is founding editor of Palabra: A Magazine of Chicano &
Latino Literary Art. She is an award-winning writer with work published
or forthcoming in RHINO, Mandorla, Hot Metal Bridge, OCHO, Quercus
Review, Diner, Passager, City Works, Vox, Poetry Midwest, 26, Segue,
BorderSenses, and The Big Ugly Review, among others. She is a past
recipient of the University of California at Irvine's Chicano/Latino
Literary Prize and she teaches creative writing to high school students.
For more information, visit http://www.palabralitmag.com/

Q: What inspired you to create a literary magazine?

A: I wanted primarily to create a vehicle for Latinos who write outside
the box to get their work published. Although there exist more than
800 literary magazines (online and print), most don't regularly feature
Latino writing, and of those that do, it had been fairly confined to an
aesthetic and an ethos that define our work through an Anglo American
perception of who we are and what we should be writing. To a large
degree that still exists. Latino writing that doesn't follow conventional
literary form, that flows back and forth from English to Spanish to
Spanglish and that doesn't speak to subject matter that is predefined
for us, rarely gets to publication.

Q: You're an award-winning writer of fiction, poetry, and plays. How
does your own writing background influence how you run Palabra?

A: I'm not a conventional writer, have never been truly successful at it,
and don't really want to be. But I am interested in the possibilities of
language--in experimenting with its form and structure without forcing
it. So I'm always on the lookout for work that is out of the ordinary and
that shows an understanding of the possibility of language. I enjoy a
well-told story or finely crafted poem as well, but they have to show a
spark, something that engages me and stays with me after I've read it.

Q: Beyond its focus on Latino writers, what makes Palabra different from
all the other literary journals out there?

A: It's purposely eclectic--designed that way to showcase the diversity
of Latino writing, especially unconventional writing. We don't all write
in the same way or about the same things. It will take risks and
publish something that isn't necessarily polished or award-worthy
but which shows some real ganas.

Q: When submitting their work to Palabra for consideration, what one
thing should writers do to catch your eye? What one thing do you
consider a turn-off?

A: Write organically but with discipline and focus. My major peeves are
sloppy work and not reading the submission guidelines.

Q: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you offer to
someone who is thinking of launching a literary magazine?

A: Be clear about why you're doing it and for how long you'll commit to
it. Know that it will take time away from your own writing. It will always
cost something.

This interviewed previously appeared in Latinidad and was reprinted with permission from the editor.