AWP recently had the opportunity to interview Kate Lorenz, editor of Parcel, a Lawrence, Kansas-based journal of poetry, prose, and artwork open for submissions year-round.

Why start a journal? Why name it Parcel? Our statement was we love getting packages in the mail and we enjoy the parceling out of literary work. Parcel is published by Heidi Raak, owner of The Raven, an independent bookstore. Heidi and I still read and love online journals, but we just love the object of a book, snuggling up with it in a way that I have not been able to with online journals and e-books. We wanted a small journal (literally small, Parcel is a slim 6” x 9” chapbook-sized item) that wasn’t overwhelming and could be read entirely through in one sitting. [With] well-designed, readable, really aesthetically pleasing work, we thought we could still add something to the party.

So, what’s Parcel trying to do for readers? Along with the reader relationship, one of the greatest gifts of editing is creating relationships with writers. We take good care of their work as we edit and arrange it, and we try to keep up with contributors and publicize their future literary pursuits. We really do read every submission hoping to become smitten. When pieces make it to a content meeting, we (all the editors, our publishers, and usually an editorial intern) try to present work that many different kinds of readers can find merit in.

What’s good writing? Writer and editor Daniel Menaker gave a talk during which he likened reading new work to having a conversation with someone at a cocktail party. You know it’s a good conversation if your drink is empty, but you don’t want to leave the conversation to refill it. That’s what we look for—the kind of work that won’t let us walk away, whether that’s due to humor, beauty, dread, or our own satisfying confusion.

What does an acceptance from Parcel mean? We get so excited about [sending one]. Parcel is what we do to stay engaged in the lit scene, and we’re always really excited to start a new relationship with a writer, help them out in any way that we can. We try to take good care of the work as well. If we want more from a writer we’re rejecting, we try to tell them what had us interested in the piece they submitted. Even with the pieces we accept we still try to say what our favorite parts were. It can be anticlimactic to have a piece just accepted without comment.

What is it to spend thirty good minutes reading a good lit journal? I think reading a great poem, story, or essay reconnects a reader with his or her humanity. Good writing reminds us that we’re all humans, or that there is hope in the world, or pain that we all have to deal with. A literary work is an intimate glimpse into the brain of another person. Writing is a solitary act, and reading a journal is a great conduit for connecting to a larger community.

Plans for the future? Attending AWP Seattle? We’ve definitely thought about starting a press and having one prose title and one poetry title each year—we just don’t want to be cost-prohibitive to our audiences. And yes, we have our table, and we’re just deciding where in Seattle we’re going to stay!

Website: http://www.parcelmag.org