Dear Irreantum Subscribers (and soon-to-be Irreantum subscribers):

There are some changes taking place at Irreantum that we wanted you to be aware of. But first, the Spring 2009 issue of Irreantum is due to ship soon. If you haven’t yet renewed your subscription (or if you have yet to subscribe) please visit http://irreantum.mormonletters.org/. During difficult economic times, print magazines need all the support they can get, and you don’t want to miss some of the excellent content in our upcoming issue.

Also, don’t forget our upcoming fiction and creative nonfiction contests. The deadline is May 31, 2009. Visit our contest page for more information.

This Spring 2009 issue will represent the last issue edited by Scott Hatch, who’s been heading up the magazine for the past two years. Due to a number of pressing academic and artistic pursuits, Scott has decided to step down from his position as co-editor of Irreantum. Scott’s artistic vision and commitment to Mormon letters has had an invaluable influence on Irreantum as a journal and on Mormon literature in general. We are very grateful for the time and talent he so willingly gave. Scott will be missed.

Our poetry editor, Michael Collings, is also stepping down. Michael is a very talented writer and editor who has done excellent work on Irreantum over the years. We wish him all the best and thank him for his many valuable contributions.

We are pleased to announce that Jack Harrell has agreed to sign on as Irreantum’s new co-editor. Jack will edit the Spring issue of the journal (beginning Spring 2010), and I will edit the Fall issue. Jim Richards has also agreed to join our staff as poetry editor.

Here’s a little more about both Jack and Jim:

Jack Harrell is a native of southeastern Illinois and a convert to the Church. He first heard of AML as an undergraduate, taking English classes from Eugene England in the early 1990’s. He holds an M.A. in English from Illinois State University, and a PhD in Education from the University of Idaho. He has published a novel, Vernal Promises, and short stories and essays in Irreantum, Dialogue, and the journal Popular Music and Society. Jack has been on the faculty of BYU-Idaho (Ricks College) since 1995. He and his wife Cindy have three children, Anjanette, Daniel, and Jessica.

Jim Richards teaches literature and creative writing at BYU-Idaho. He completed a PhD in literature and creative writing at the University of Houston in 2003. He has served as poetry editor of Meridian Magazine (online) and as a staff editor at Gulf Coast. His poems have appeared in The Texas Review, Perspective, Literature and Belief, and BYU Studies. He lives in Rexburg with his wife, Debbie, and their four sons.

I am confident that Jack and Jim will bring loads of talent and energy to Irreantum and I’m looking forward to working with both of them. This change ensures that Irreantum has plenty of fresh energy and new talent to keep us moving in a positive direction. Our Fall issue will be another double issue, and we will then be up-to-date and on track for delivering the best creative and critical work in Mormon letters—consistently, reliably, and on time! Please support us by submitting and subscribing, and telling your friends. You can also join our new Irreantum Facebook page (and tell your friends about that, too) at and receive updates, links, and other Irreantum news.

Your subscriptions and submissions will help ensure that Irreantum survives and thrives. Thank you for your support!

Best,
Angela Hallstrom
co-editor, Irreantum

2. I like not eating. I thought this job would make me fat. I mean, I just sit around all day typing. Not exactly Gold’s Gym. But it turns out that I get so deep into my work, that often I simply forget to eat. When I start getting cranky I grab some juice, which gives my brain the glucose it needs to get happy again, and maybe I’ll eat some cottage cheese. But that’s about it till the fam gets home. I’ve actually lost weight.

3. I like walking to the mailbox. It’s about a quarter mile round trip, which would bother me except for the fact that this walk is really my only exercise. It gives me a bit of time to not think and to remember what outdoor air smells like.

3. I like listening to loud music. From the aforementioned daily visit to the Amazon MP3 special, I have gathered quite a diverse roster of music. Who knew I’d get into Nick Drake?  How long have I lived without the Sex Pistols?  The 1 2 3s never stuck until They Might Be Giants entered the picture. I never envisioned the day I would start listening to someone named Erykah Badu.

However, I have two different kinds of music for different kinds of tasks. I have “no lyrics” music for those days I edit words, and I have “lyrics” music, for the days I’m doing design work.  Speaking of which …

4. I like design work, though I haven’t been trained in it at all. I really enjoy finding that perfect picture to illustrate not only the content, but the ethos of an article. It does takes time, my iStockPhoto account is crammed with folders of pictures I’m saving for later and I’m an avid user of deviantart.com in my never ending quest for THE picture.

I also really enjoy thinking up concepts for our fabulous artist Jett Atwood. It’s like Christmas when she sends me her embodiment of an idea. For example:

This is what I send:

And this is what she sends back:

How can you not love that? By the way, these panels are from the upcoming issue of Sunstone, which includes the first-ever Book of Mormon manga comic book — “Ammon: Warrior Missionary.” Subscribe now to get it!

And in case you’re curious: yes, I am writing this in my pajamas.