{"id":1284,"date":"2019-08-07T14:53:13","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T14:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/?p=1284"},"modified":"2019-08-07T14:53:16","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T14:53:16","slug":"swim-the-collective-consciousness-with-molly-harris-of-natural-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/2019\/08\/07\/swim-the-collective-consciousness-with-molly-harris-of-natural-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Swim the Collective Consciousness with Molly Harris of Natural Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Natural Bridge<\/a>, A Journal of Contemporary Literature, publishes high quality poetry, fiction, essays, and art from established and emerging writers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

STL SPEX (Rachel): How would you describe the role of Natural Bridge<\/em> within the world of literary publications? What are some of the unique qualities of this journal for readers, writers and artists?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural Bridge<\/em> not only illuminates literary trends\nbut also is a reflection of our nation and our community. Our short stories,\npoetry, and visual art brings forth the collective consciousness and show universal,\nrelatable moments of fear, sadness, joy, and discovery. The beauty of\nliterature is that is the opportunity to experience something firsthand through\nlanguage. You will be able to live that moment. It allows readers to gather\noutsider their experiences and personal beliefs and find and empathy. Using\nliterature to open hearts and minds is especially important in this current\nclimate, I believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the internationally-renowned authors we\npublish, Natural Bridge<\/em> is many authors\u2019 first printed publication, and\nwe are proud to showcase new talent. We also publish essays and translations\u2014we\u2019re\nalways looking for these types of submissions, and it\u2019s always a pleasure to\ncome across them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

STL SPEX: What are your own artistic influences\/interests?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I started writing, artists such as Kelly Link and\nMiranda July really shaped my style. They have this really beautiful way of\nsaying something so strange in a really minimalist, simple way. I just remember\nbeing in high school and reading No One Belongs Here More Than You<\/em> and\njust being completely blown away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For works I\u2019ve read recently, Esi Edugyan\u2019s Washington\nBlack <\/em>really sticks out to me. She has such good command of language. I\njust started Milkman<\/em> by Anna Burns as well, and I\u2019m really enjoying it\nso far. I also feel that music influences artists of all mediums, and I\ndefinitely find that true for myself. I\u2019ve been listening to Orville Peck\u2019s\ndebut, Pony,<\/em> on repeat these past couple weeks. I\u2019m obsessed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

STL SPEX: What do you look for in submissions to Natural Bridge<\/em>? How do you select and organize pieces to create an issue?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we welcome and publish traditional pieces, we are open to and looking for work that doesn\u2019t follow status-quo, work that has confidence and breaks boundaries. We love to be surprised by pieces. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes deciding work, it truly is a team effort.\nPeople put up stories for group reads, and whatever wins majority vote gets\ninto the magazine. The organization can get tricky\u2014I try to make the works\ncohesive in theme and visually different enough so that if you read an issue\nfront-to-back, it should flow and not feel jarring to a reader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re always looking for new work. We accept short stories, poetry, essays, translations, and artwork, so please submit<\/a>! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Natural Bridge, A Journal of Contemporary Literature, publishes high quality poetry, fiction, essays, and art from established and…\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1286,"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions\/1286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slicexpo.org\/stlspex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}