Irreantum’s Newest Issue and a Special Subscription Incentive
The following letter will be sent to all past Irreantum subscribers. Of course, the incentives described below will apply to anybody who chooses to subscribe. So don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Subscribe!!
Dear Friends of Irreantum,
Irreantum’s Spring/Fall 2009 Anniversary Double Issue will soon be released. As we celebrate Irreantum’s tenth year, we’re offering special incentives for all subscribers—past, present, and future.
The upcoming issue is one of Irreantum’s best yet, including fiction by Orson Scott Card, essays by Terryl Givens and Patrick Madden, poetry by Holly Welker, and photography by Val Brinkerhoff. You won’t want to miss it! (See a complete table of contents at the end of this message.)
This issue celebrates another milestone as well: having caught up with past issues, Irreantum now pledges to deliver Spring and Fall issues in a timely manner. Change, and even tragedy, has challenged Irreantum’s short history—including the death of our editor and dear friend Laraine Wilkins. Delays have resulted. But with this issue we’re officially back on track.
As a thanks to those who’ve stayed with us, the double issue will count as a single issue for current subscribers. If your subscription was due to end with the Fall 2009 issue, you’ll now receive a Spring 2010 issue before your subscription lapses. You’ll also receive another bonus: a complimentary copy The Best of Mormonism, courtesy of Curelom Books, the book publishing arm of Sunstone. This collection, which includes the best writing by, for, or about Mormons from 2007-2008, is packed with award-winning work from several national publications—including fiction, personal essays, book chapters, poetry, and a play. (A table of contents of The Best of Mormonism also can be found at the end of this message.)
A special offer for new subscribers and those whose subscriptions have lapsed: if you purchase a one-year subscription to Irreantum in the month of November 2009, you will receive Irreantum’s Fall 2009 Anniversary Double Issue, The Best of Mormonism, and next year’s Spring 2010 issue, edited by our new co-editor, Jack Harrell.
Irreantum is at a crossroads. Subscription rates have declined. If the numbers don’t improve, the magazine’s viability may be at risk. No matter how dedicated our staff, how excellent our contributors, Irreantum cannot continue without the support of paying subscribers. Please take this opportunity to renew your subscription. Pass this message along to friends and encourage others to subscribe. Or buy Irreantum subscriptions as Christmas gifts. The $25 one-year subscription to Irreantum includes membership in the Association for Mormon Letters, a non-profit organization advancing Mormon literature since 1976. To subscribe, please visit http://irreantum.mormonletters.org/subscribe. Your subscription will help ensure Irreantum’s survival and deliver the best in Mormon literature to your door.
Sincerely,
Angela Hallstrom
Jack Harrell
co-editors, Irreantum
Irreantum Spring/Fall 2009 Double Issue Table of Contents:
Fiction:
Orson Scott Card “The Elephants of Poznan”
Darin Cozzens “The Treading of Lesser Cattle”
Larry Menlove “Path of Antelope, Pelican, and Moon”
Charmayne Gubler Warnock “Nightshade”
Joshua Foster “Cheddar”
Critical Essays:
Terryl Givens “Paradox and Discipleship”
Jack Harrell “Human Conflict and the Mormon Writer”
Eric Samuelsen “The Association for Mormon Letters: Toward a Mission, Minus the Statement”
Poetry:
Doug Talley “Overcoming the World,” “Caelestia,” “Finding Place”
Paul Swenson “Behind the Mask,” “Traces of Laraine”
Holly Welker “Barren,” “Creation”
Michael R. Collings “Contrition,” “Damon Again”
Creative Nonfiction:
Jaren Watson “Of the Drowned”
Ryan McIlvain “Confessions of a Secular Mormon”
Patrick Madden “The Path of Redemption”
Reviews:
Patricia Karamesines, “No Better Off: Amy Irvine’s Trespass: Living at the Edge of the Promised Land”
Phyllis Barber “Big Love Before Big Love: Dorothy Allred Solomon’s In My Father’s House: A Memoir of Polygamy”
Laura Hilton Craner “A Mother Must Leave Behind Her Illusions: Kathryn Lynard Soper’s The Year My Son and I Were Born”
Heidi Hart “Fierce Voices: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History”
Best of Mormonism by Curelom Books Table of Contents:
Neil Aitken. TRAVELING THROUGH THE PRAIRIES, I THINK OF MY FATHER’S VOICE
FROM The Lost Country of Sight
Brittney Carman. BELIEVING OWL, SEEING OWL
FROM Black Warrior Review
Johnna Benson Cornett. GATHER
FROM Segullah
Darin Cozzens. REAP IN MERCY
FROM Irreantum
Lisa Torcasso Downing. CLOTHING ESTHER
FROM Sunstone
Joshua Foster. GOD DAMNED THE LAND BUT LIFTED THE PEOPLE; OR, A REDEMPTION IN THREE LEVITATIONS
FROM South Loop Review
James Goldberg, PRODIGAL SON
FROM New Play Project
Angela Hallstrom. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
FROM Bound on Earth
Lance Larsen. A FEELING IN YOUR HEAD
FROM Iowa Review
Patrick Madden. A SUDDEN PULL BEHIND THE HEART
FROM The Best Creative Nonfiction, vol 2
Scott Russell Morris. NOTHING IN PARTICULAR
FROM Prick of the Spindle
Kathryn Lynard Soper. SOLITAIRE
FROM The Year My Son and I Were Born
Emily Summerhays. HOW THE PRAYERS RAN DRY
FROM Sunstone
Lynda MacKey Wilson. WE WHO OWE EVERYTHING TO A NAME
FROM BYU Studies
Darlene Young. PATRIARCHAL BLESSING
FROM Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought
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November 2nd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Some exciting content — I hope that it generates the increase in subscribers Irreantum needs.
A question:
For 2009 I dropped back down to an Irreantum-only subscription because I hadn’t received an AML Annual for many years and was tired of paying the full AML membership for basically no benefit to me (mercenary, yes, but I paid for a full membership for several years). With the $25 level now being the only offering, does that include an AML Annual or some other form of the proceedings of the yearly conference? It’s a bit frustrating to me that the greatest wealth of Mormon literary criticism is basically inaccessible to those of us who are interested in having access to it.
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:30 pm
William, excellent question, and I agree that the inaccessibility of the papers presented at the annual meeting is a continuing frustration. It is for me, too. The board has decided to make podcasts available and to do whatever else they can to get past AML meetings into AML members’ hands. As far as the $25 price tag, printing costs have risen quite a bit over the last few years and we’ve reached a point where we had to raise Irreantum’s prices. But rather than raise the Irreantum-only subscription to $25 AND raise the AML membership cost, we decided to have the subscription and the membership be one-in-the-same, since as of right this minute the only tangible benefit to AML membership is Irreantum. Well, Irreantum and the good feeling that comes when you support Mormon art. But, again, I understand your frustration and working out the issues surrounding the dissemination of the AML annuals is a problem that the board takes very seriously and it working on tackling.
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:11 pm
The link in the post didn’t translate correctly so: Live link for Irreantum subscription
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Thanks, Angela. That’s good to hear.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:25 am
I usurped my RS email list a while back and forwarded info about this offer to the ladies. So far, it netted one new subscription. Please don’t be shy forwarded to this information to any who might have a lit interest or who may know someone who does.
Of course, I’m biased, but I do agree that this current issue is spectacular. Angela did a fantastic job snagging a little read Card story and the other fiction is quite diverse. We have an experimental piece by Darin Cozzens, more traditional pieces by Larry Menlove and Joshua Foster, both of which are rich with imagery and meaning, and a compelling novel excerpt by Charmayne Gubler that delves into what I call the Mormon occult. I understand the rest of the work is equally fantastic. Its a great time to come back or to pile on.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 am
Wm, I fixed the link. Thanks! And Lisa, I’m biased too, but this issue is the best one I’ve worked on so far. The content here combined with the content in The Best of Mormonism will be a feast of Mormon lit!
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:08 pm
just took a visit over to paypal. can’t wait to read this issue. congratulations Angela! and thanks for all the hard, unseen work you (and everyone else) put into this.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:32 am
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Are you aware that it’s a better deal for me to buy two years than three?
November 4th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Whoops. Thanks for pointing that out. We’ll get that fixed.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:17 am
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I’ll hold off on renewing then.
November 8th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I’ll be re-newing for myself and getting a first-time subscription for my teenaged son.
That’s some ground retaken!
November 30th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
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Any news on when the subscription prices will be fixed? I’m anxious to renew, but I’m holding off to see what the offer is……
November 30th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Th., sorry about this, but I don’t have control over changing the website. I have put in a request but so far a change hasn’t been made. The price for a 3 year subscription will probably change to $65, but I don’t know if it will happen by the end of the night tonight (which is the deadline for the Best of Mormonism incentive, if you weren’t scheduled to receive that already). I realize the deal isn’t that much better, but in order to hedge against further increases in printing costs that’s as low as we were able to go. Hope that helps you make your decision and sorry for the delay!
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:21 pm
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Oh, there was never any question that I would renew. (In fact, I just did.) And I received my Best of Mormondom today. I’m excited to dig in. Thanks!
March 17th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
I adore your website greatly. Will read all. Keep up to great work on it. ty