We caught up with September, our publisher and editor-in-chief here at Weird Lit Magazine with a conversation about launching WLM, her thoughts on weirdness in art, her writing theme song, and some super insightful advice for aspiring contributors to the magazine.
What inspired you to become part of a lit journal?
I’m passionate about providing a platform for weird fiction and the writers who create it. I also wanted to make something cool with friends whose taste for weird lit I share and respect. In a past life, I led a goth-punk band, and I’ve missed the sense of camaraderie that comes with collaborative creative efforts.
What place does weirdness have in your life?
Weirdness sits at the head of my dining table and says いただけます！before savoring a vegan feast. Weirdness wakes me up at three in the morning for impromptu viewings of horror films. Weirdness drives my decision-making, my friend-picking, my art. Without weirdness, I would devolve into an unrecognizable blob of mediocrity and there are just way too many of those in this world.
What kinds of things are you excited to read in a Weird Lit Mag submission?
I would love to read dark, honest stories with existential themes and divergent perspectives. I want stories with depth, layers, and rich symbolism. Stories that are not afraid of challenging the status quo. Stories that inspire empathy and nonconformity. I want to read about dirtbags. Loners. People who have really seen some shit. I want to read about Sasquatch’s innermost dreams and relate to those dreams to such a degree that I book a weeklong trip deep in the Cascade Mountains just to get away and figure out what to do next with my life.
What kinds of things are you not excited to encounter in a Weird Lit Mag submission?
Fan fiction, pop culture references/themes, retellings of well-known stories, the use of taboo topics such as rape or suicide for shock factor or to explain away a character’s motivations for revenge, fan fiction, text messages or emails or other epistolary nonsense, stories that lack weirdness, tech-centric stories, academic settings, and last but not least, for a third time, fan fiction.
What advice do you have for contributors?
I know it’s exciting to submit your work, but please, don’t do so until your piece is ready. Seek feedback from fellow writers who understand the importance of craft and aren’t easily impressed. Don’t ask your friends and family. They won’t tell you it’s not ready yet because they won’t know. You’re the writer, so act like one and put your craft above everything, especially your ego—that bastard will derail all your efforts if you let it.
Where or how do you think many writers can improve their writing?
Every word must be vital to the story. If a piece makes sense without that word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, or page, cut it.
What is your favorite banned book?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey.
What is the most recent record/album you bought or listened to?
I recently purchased Joy as an Act of Resistance by IDLES from Life on Mars, a Seattle vegan vinyl bar and restaurant.
What will your biography be titled?
九月：青い目の沖縄人
Is a hot dog a sandwich?
No. A sandwich does not require the murdering, grinding, and compressing of various animals and their assholes. (I prefer a vegan sandwich).
Advice on creating that you’ve learned by trial and error?
Forget about achieving perfection as that aim will inevitably hinder the process. It’s ok to be messy, to feel uncertain, or to fuck up. The creative process is a human process, and utilizing our humanity is what separates us from the robots.
Unpopular opinion, go:
Purchasing goods from Amazon is unethical and unnecessary.
What’s your favorite cryptid?
Sasquatch. Duh.
There’s “good” weird…and there’s also "not-so-good weird." What’s “good” weird to you?
Good weird is authentic. Good weird opens our minds to new perspectives and fosters connection. Good weird is wearing your dead son’s pride gear to the farmers market and engaging in meaningful conversations with strangers about the multiverse.
What is your writing theme song?
I can’t narrow it down to one, so I’ll just say Modest Mouse’s 1996 album This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About.
What do you think of garden gnomes?
I have learned not to trust them around cannabis plants.
Name a book that made you cry (or feel like crying).
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Anything else you think would be cool/helpful to mention to the WLM universe?
I am currently obsessed with and highly recommend the weird 2024 film Sasquatch Sunset.
September Herrin is a writer and book editor from the Pacific Northwest. She is the founder of Sasquatch Club, a Seattle-based writing collective, and she serves on the board of governors for the Editorial Freelancers Association. Her work has appeared in The Sprawl Mag, Idle Ink, Black Sheep Magazine, and elsewhere under her birth name September Woods Garland. She enjoys long, romantic walks through haunted houses and feeding Bigfoot peanut butter and seaweed sandwiches. She is drawn to absurdist themes and ambiguous endings.
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