Alexia Swanson October 24, 2013

Slice Magazine
A Review of Issue 13
Every word of Slice Magazine is deliciously prepared for hungry, aspiring writers. Layers of brilliant young literature are iced together with articles and interviews from experienced authors. While reading this issue, I experienced life as a Jewish child alongside author Helen Rubinstein in her non-fiction story, Drawing God and reminisced on the teenage years of Mira Ptacin in her essay, Just a Moment. Not only are the content extremely varied through Slices essays, stories, poems and articles published in issue 13, but the authors writing styles also range from traditional storytelling to innovative and experimental techniques. In addition to the alluring fictional and non-fictional stories are articles that unravel the culture of modern-day publishing businesses. Those interested in creating their own literature, the development of fictional characters, or working in the publishing industry would devour issue 13 of Slice Magazine. I can say I am left with a clean plate, myself. The theme of issue 13 is the unknown. This issue holds a collection of stories that are mysterious, erratic and bizarre. Among the non-fiction work is one of my favorites by Mira Ptacin. In her personal essay, Just a Moment, Ptacin writes about her past life as a young adult when she was once out of reach from her present day stressors such as networking and career building. She embraced living in the moment type reckless experiences as a student. Through most of her young adulthood, she perceived motherhood as a series of monotonous adult responsibilities and family routine. While pregnant with her first child, Ptacin breaks away from this myth and writes a story of personal growth. After realizing that her own mother was once a child, Ptacins perspective completely changes. She writes, We resist womens realnessDancing becomes silly. Nudity is taboo. You see where Im going with this: The brain in so loud. All previous stereotypes of womanhood are no longer daunting fears in Ptacins life, as her essay focuses on existing in and embracing the present moment. I value Slices decision to publish Just a Moment because it is the authors honest account of what it means to live to the fullest. The meaning of this common phrase differs among different ages, but it may especially contrast in teenagers compared to middle-aged mothers. It is intriguing to experience the authors change in perspective as she aged. Just a Moment contributes to the magazines edgy unknown theme during its psychedelic opening scenes where the author is living in the moment as a young adult. I must also credit Slice Magazine with the ability to collect a diverse source of literature. For example, Helen Rubinstein experiments with exaggerated word repetition in her non-fiction piece, Drawing God. In her personal essay, Rubinstein uses the phrase it begins to break up different scenes and to reiterate the beginning of her understanding about religion. However, I found the constant it begins phrase at the start of each scene in her essay distracting. The repetitive technique is more successful in CJ Hausers story, The Mechanicals, also featured in issue 13 of Slice. (I swear I am unbiased in my critique even though I am proud to say that Hauser is a current Florida State University student, like myself.) Hauser repeats the word, he to describe the man she is referring to throughout her story, creating repetition for a separate purpose other than to simply call attention to a certain phrase. By using he as a replacement for the characters name, she gives her character a more general persona, making him more relatable to her audience. Although repetition is used in both stories, due to the authors unique purposes for using this technique, it added a dramatically different effect to each story.

Issue 13 also features various poems. I enjoyed Eating Chicken Feet by Jason Nemec the most because of Nemecs specific attention to detail when he describes something so unnoticed as a tiny chicken foot. His style blends with his lyrical voice, creating a strange, yet intriguing visual. The essay starts with, [e]ating chicken feet isnt as strange a thing as you want it to be. Oh, really, Jason? Because I think that is pretty odd. Even so, I was pulled into the foreign concept of eating animal feet and embraced the poems weird tone. In fact, I fell in love with the phrase: There are the tiny bones, yes, like bits of graphite from the pencils you learned to write with. Other poems published in issue 13 that I recommend are Cemetery at White Point by Rebecca Starks and [Maybe Its Bullet Day or Eat-A-Lamb Day] by Kyle McCord. The authors interviewed in Slice Magazine give experienced perspectives about the publishing business and notable advice to young readers. I took note of the statements that were most impressionable on me. It is reassuring to read that the humble, Francine Prose thinks writing is as big of a mystery as I do, telling Slice, every time I start to write anything Im confronted by how little I know, and how much I have to find out. I am refreshed knowing that even published authors experience moments of ignorance. Bill Roorbach and Slices interviewer had a similar conversation about the learning experience he underwent in discovering the characters personalities in his novel, Life Among Giants. For example, he met his character, Lizard when researching ballet. Roorbach explains that he, himself is just writing to find out what happens in his own story. Furthermore, he explains the process of eliminating text from his book, even after he believes he finished a story. In Life Among Giants, Roorbach wrote chapters of character development that were then cut out by his editors. This is a concept that, like most young authors, I am uneasy about. Learning to get rid of excess information in order to create the best story possible is like saying goodbye to a close friend. Even though it seems like a waste, Roorback says he does not view this editing as lost time because during his time writing the chapters he cut, he learned about his own characters and the book benefits from it. In the article published by Celia Blue Johnson about writers who did not originally intent to become authors, I was surprised that among them are Charles Dickens, Aldous Huxley and Toni Morrison, who all had different plans for their lives. This is inspiring to me, as it showed that hidden talents truly do sometimes escape with experience. What a shame it would have been to never meet Oliver Twist. My reaction after reading Slice Magazines issue 13 was a newfound love for literary journals. The infusion of modern literature, art, and professional perspectives combines to create a unique publication. Although Slice may not be as prominent as the New Yorker or The Atlantic, that is not its motive. The magazine embraces its own personality and succeeds in its efforts to bridge the gap between emerging and already established authors. Slices innovative ideas, chic style, and provocative content make for an exciting read that I highly recommend it to anyone interested in literary journals. After taking a nibble at this Slice, I am eager to bite into the next batch.