An Exclusive Preview of Issue 2 // Drops this Friday! We always meet the most interesting people at 3rd Ward and in this neighborhood. Not just the creative professionals, but also the lawyer with the animation passion, the publicist with a screenprinting Etsy store. Now Bushwick is sharing its wealth of creativity with a namesake, collaborative publication that celebrates this electric environment where everyone is creative. It's called The Bushwick Review.
With the second issue of The Bushwick Review dropping this Friday, founder Kristen Felicetti (an event and broadcast production assistant by day) gave 3rd Ward an exclusive sneak peek at this issue’s eclectic contents.
3W: So! Tell me about The Bushwick Review and why you created it.
KF: Each issue of The Bushwick Review features creative contributions from about 15–20 people. I created it because a lot of my friends were writing or making artwork. It’s really interesting to me to see what my friends are working on outside of their day jobs—and most of them didn't have a way to share their work with others. I wanted The Bushwick Review to bring their work together and share it with a wider audience. By doing this, I hope to give TBR contributors exposure and encouragement, and create a sense of community between all contributors, past and present.
3W: Is there a guiding theme or editorial concept for each issue?
KF: I'll include anything that can be printed on a black & white page. I want to go beyond the traditional things you find in most literary magazines. I've never had a guiding theme or editorial concept, though for some reason a lot of the submissions in this current issue had something to do with geography or spaces, so that is the vague theme. I’ve been considering deliberately setting a theme for a future issue and asking people to submit work with that theme in mind.
3W: What’s been one of your favorite submissions?
KF: I don't want to play favorites, but I can tell you about the variety of different things in the 2nd issue. There are short stories, poems, comics, humorous restaurant reviews, a guide to micronations, drawings, watercolors, photographs of people sitting on porches, a weaving draft sketch, a radio play script, an illustrated diagram about the cycle of pigeons, an illustrated tale about a turkey, and more.
3W: A pigeon diagram?!
KF: Without spoiling too much, I will say that it is a detailed hand-drawn diagram about how pigeons may have evolved from a very common object that you would never expect. It was made by the talented musician (and amateur pigeon inspector), Or Zubalsky.
3W: The ‘zine’s namesake neighborhood houses a lot of artistic talent. Do you see this publication playing a particular role within the Bushwick community?
KF: I love living in Bushwick, love it, love it. I think it's very inspiring here. There are tons of people making music, making art, and writing. People have a lot of enthusiasm and energy. I would love if it got to the point where the Review was widely known in the Bushwick community.
3W: What are some of the challenges/rewards of producing and distributing a self-published work?
KF: I have friends help with copy-editing, but I do almost everything else, from the production and design to the distribution. It’s incredibly rewarding to realize how much work you've put into something, and to have complete creative control. The same goes for the contributors, they have complete creative control. I don't ever edit their content or suggest they change anything, beyond an occasional typo. I want to make sure their work looks the way they want it.
I made a personal ‘zine once in high school and sold it online. It was mostly just my own writing—short stories, poems, essays, and it was designed in a cut n' paste and collage style. It was called See More Glass. I was really digging J.D. Salinger's short story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" at the time and the title is a reference to that. Having done this in the past, you start to develop more efficient methods. Plus, now I know cheaper places to make copies!
3W: Where can folks get a copy of The Bushwick Review?
KF: You can always order the current issue or past issues of The Bushwick Review online at www.thebushwickreview.com. It is also sold in the following bookstores: St. Mark’s Bookshop, Bluestockings, Desert Island Comics, and Spoonbill & Sugartown. They are all wonderful bookstores in New York that I recommend visiting. (Ed. Note: Uh, yeah. An all-star list!)
3W: Can people submit their work for the next issue of The Bushwick Review?
KF: Sure! Email submissions to bushwickreview@gmail.com.
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