why we chose it — LIP SERVICE — Split Lip Magazine

Why We Chose It: "Repent, Macho Man Randy Savage," by Jakob Guanzon

I have a general noninterest in sports (with the sole exception of soccer, the best game on the planet! FIGHT ME.). So I never imagined I’d accept a story about Macho Man Randy Savage and the pageantry that is professional wrestling.

SLMNovember 19, 2018blog, why we chose it

Why We Chose It: "The Heart's Drip" by Rebecca Kokitus

Death, in polite society, comes wrapped in euphemisms, in cliches, in the kind of polite speech we engage in when we are talking about a thing that we are afraid is not a thing to be talked about. I hate that shit. Rebecca Kokitus is not afraid to tell us what death looks like, and she brings a poet's toolbox to the task so that we really see it.

SLMOctober 18, 2018blog, why we chose it

Why We Chose It: "The Exhibit" by Samantha Kimmey

The week we accepted Samantha Kimmey’s “The Exhibit,” there was a photograph of a disaster victim buried in ash on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. The photograph was almost beautiful in its composition. But what was it? Art? News? Entertainment?

SLMSeptember 16, 2018blog, why we chose it

Why We Chose It: "Elegy for Mr. Spock" by W. Todd Kaneko

Before writing this “Why We Chose It” piece about W. Todd Kaneko’s beautiful poem “Elegy for Mr. Spock,” I called my brother and asked him how he felt watching The Wrath of Khan for the first time and seeing Dr. Spock die. First, he corrected me. It’s not “Dr. Spock.”

SLMAugust 16, 2018blog, why we chose it

Why We Chose It: "Bound" by Belinda Hermawan

“A fortune-teller told me I had drowned myself in a previous life in Ancient China.” Right away I was drawn in by this, the first line of Belinda Hermawan’s “Bound.” I wanted to know more about this story within the story, and I was pleased later by how it carries through the piece—the narrator’s fortune and the attached mythology play out like backstory to her experiences.

SLMJuly 17, 2018blog, why we chose it

Why We Chose It: "To and From" by Felicity Fenton

There are several reasons why Felicity Fenton's breakup story grabbed me enough to make me want to immediately read it again.

SLMJune 18, 2018blog, why we chose it

Why We Chose It: "Alprazolam" by Brandon Melendez

I spent a lot of time thinking about why we chose Brandon Melendez’s “Alprazolam,” and I realized that explaining why I chose a poem is a lot harder than explaining why I didn’t choose a poem.

SLMMay 16, 2018blog, why we chose it

Why We Chose It: "Coming Clean" by Hanna Rosenheimer

Each month, one of our genre editors will discuss what made them select a certain piece from the current issue. This month, Maureen Langloss elaborates on why she accepted "Coming Clean."

SLMApril 18, 2018blog, why we chose it