News: AML announces Irreantum changes

The Association for Mormon Letters has announced the new focus, name and editorial team for its literary magazine Irreantum.

Name: Although the magazine retains the "Irreantum" name, it's full title will now be Irreantum: A Review of Mormon Literature and Film, reflecting how important film has become to Mormon cultural studies. The announcement also includes a brief explanation of the name -- "ear-ee-an'-tum: 1 Nephi 17:5, "And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters."

Focus: According to the AML, Irreantum will include...

* Critical essays
* Stronger emphasis on poetry
* Readers Write section (mini personal essays from our readers)
* From the Archives section (reprints of classic Mormon literary texts)
* Regular film response, reflections on the current Mormon cinema scene
* Special focus topics for each issue
* Plus, more of the same writing you've come to expect from Irreantum: fiction, plays, screenplays, creative non-fiction, and book reviews

This is not all that different from its previous incarnation. There does seem to be a greater emphasis on film. And while Irreantum was never shy in the past about reprinting works, I like that this practice is going to be more systematized. It'll be interesting to see what texts the editors deem "classic." It'll also be interesting to see how the "readers write" section works. The previous incarnation didn't have the strongest letter department, but I remember one reader exhange (that took place over three or four issues) that was quite lively and interesting. I'm not sure what the editors mean by a stronger emphasis on poetry -- Irreantum always ran at least six-eight poems and usually more. Finally, I like the idea of focus topics, but I hope that each issue saves room for works that aren't part of the focus. The danger of focus topics is that you may not receive enough quality submissions for a particular topic. I'd much rather read the best submissions rather than mediocre submissions that aren't outstanding, but are acceptable and on topic. Of course, the advantage of a focus topic is that it often sparks works that otherwise wouldn't be written.

Team: Laraine Wilkins will serve as managing editor as well as edit the critical essays department. Her poetry has appeared in Irreantum and Weber Studies. Check out the announcement for the rest of the editors, but what I found most interesting is that Laraine has lined up eight staff members to help out the editors. This is a smart idea, in my opinion. If Irreantum is going to build upon its success (and attract a larger readership), it needs people who can help do non-editorial work -- subscriber services, distribution, bookseller relations, publicity (including a stronger online presence -- which may be in the works), etc.

It'll be interesting to see if any design changes happen as well. I'm not sure if any of the staff members are graphic designers.

Finally, I was excited to read what they are looking for in terms of submissions (beyond poetry and short stories):

"We accept translations of literary work written in languages other than English. We also consider submissions of critical essays that explore the intersections of religion, literature, and film in the context of the Mormon experience. We are especially interested in the following topics: Film and Religion, The Nineteenth Century, Spiritual Autobiography, International Contexts, Poetry, Sacred Texts, Mormon Spaces."

I'd love to see a translation appear in an upcoming issue, although it's not clear to me what type of text it'd be. And I am very pleaced by the emphasis placed on critical essays. This is an area that Irreantum was lacking. There were some great pieces of creative non-ficiton that appeared, but not many critical essays. Yes, the AML Annual Meeting was focused on criticism, but most of those works read like what they were -- conference papers. Some of the topics the editors say they are most interested seem a little trendy -- Religion and Film, Mormon Spaces -- and I hope that they will maintain a literary focus. Otherwise Irreantum will end up covering much of the same ground that Sunstone and Dialogue does. But hey, I like trendy topics -- and to be fair, I think the topics listed are quite relevant for Mormon literature at the moment.

You can subscribe to Irreantum online.