Trix of the publishing trade
The Santa Barbara Writers Conference has birthed a lot of books and other published works in its decades-long history, including Montecito author Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes. This year, SBWC can claim another new offspring via the Santa Barbara Literary Journal, a fully bound volume that debuted this summer and has just published its second volume of poetry, etc.
The idea for the journal grew out of writing prompts at an early morning Sci-Fi fantasy flash fiction workshop at SBWC 2017, according to Angela Borda, who goes by the pen name Silver Webb in her role as “editrix” of the LitJo (a title chosen because it seemed a “more fun way to represent that writing is joyous”). “All these writers who get together once a year are very talented, but it’s almost impossible to get published on your own,” she said. “The Journal is a way for writers to have something tangible on the shelfs and in their hands that they can say ‘I’m a part of that.’ It’s important for your work to get out in the world.”
Borda expressed doubts about the potential connotations of the word “literary,” noting that it might make people think that the pieces are “terribly dry and boring, and only for rarified readers.” But, she said, any writing done well can be literature. So the SB LitJo features a range of works, including sci-fi and fantasy as well as song lyrics amid the short stories, poems, and essays.
Volume 2 carries the theme of “Cor Sepentis” (Heart of the Serpent), and many of the works makes allusions to that image, one way or another. “It really works to unify the journal,” Borda said. “I’m really proud the way it turned out.”
The new Literary Journal will have its official release party at 1 pm on Saturday, December 8, at Karpeles Manuscript Museum, where all of the contributors have been invited to read, or, in the case of the lyricists, sing a song. Refreshments will be served at the event, which also features a presentation of the Black Cat Award. Admission is free. Visit www.sblitjo.com for details.
