Leaves for Art -Regenerating the Literature of Symbolism

[Evans]

With gracious thanks to Mr. Ghetu and my co-editor I can now unveil something that has been in preparation for a long time. Behold:

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LEAVES FOR ART Hieroglyphic Press !RENOVATIO IMPERII! To be edited by Daniel CORRICK and Mark SAMUELS 'The publication wishes for Spiritual Art - Decadence, Symbolism, Esotericism - art for the sake of aestheticism and art for the sake of vision. Therefore it stands in opposition to the exhausted and inferior schools of Realism and genre fiction which have came about due to a misunderstanding of reality and are unwilling or unable to convey a sense of interior vision and allow the reader to catch a glimpse of the world through purged eyes.' Leaves for Art* is to be an experimental journal, a sort of contemporary Symbolist review, intended to champion a mystical and pro-cultural ethos against the materialistic and self destructive rottenness of the modern world. With that in mind we are currently looking for fiction, both short stories and vignettes, in the aesthetic and metaphysical vein. The creative reinterpretation of a Stefan George quote at the top of the page gives a good idea of what we are primarily after, but we will consider work in almost all categories from dream pieces to love stories as long as they seem to fit the tone of the production. Supernatural, fantastic and 'weird' type stories are most welcome as long as they don't fall into the common 'genre' categories: in short they must have something more to them - be it beauty of prose or depth of vision - than what is available in mainstream literature of that variety. Remember the division of 'genre' and 'literary' fiction only came about as a result of the failure of Modernism and the collapse of English language literature as a whole after the 'sixties. We do not want the dregs of the 21st century, the 21st century is Nothing’s Empire. We want the High and the Holy, the Sacred, the Rare. Here are some authors we hold in high esteem: Mircea Eliade, Arthur Machen, Ernst Jünger, Stefan George, Charles Baudelaire, Thomas Traherne, Leon Bloy, Mark Valentine, Meister Eckhart, Stefan Grabinski, George Bacovia, J.K. Huysmans, Gabriele d'Annunzio and Angelus Silesius. Verse poetry, a dying art form in this day and age, is also requested, along with prose poems, a format we are very fond of. Poetry translations are also warmly welcomed. Another area we are keen to hear from people on is reviews and critical articles. The internet, and in particular the advent of mass blogging, has left the venue of printed criticism to a few entrenched critics of a certain style, and we would like to provide an alternative. We welcome reviews of contemporary or newly translated works in the fantastic and sacred traditions, be they fiction or non-fiction. Similarly articles on authors and aspects of their work are also requested. All that we ask is that the piece be elegantly written and that the writer posses a certain understanding of their subject. More abstruse cultural articles and interviews are also requested but please discuss them with the editors first before submitting. We are primarily interested in reviews of written work but might possibly be persuaded to accept for other mediums as well, particularly music - for example if someone were to submit a review of Sol Invictus' The Cruellest Month or an article on Sagittarius's Die Große Marina, Songs from the Ivory Tower, The Kingdom Come cycle we would consider it. The afore mentioned albums should give an idea of the eclectic music we like but do feel free to contact us beforehand to check. Submissions may be of any length up to the maximum of ten thousand or so words, but a slight preference shall be given towards smaller pieces since it allows us to include more individual pieces. In regards to previously published items, we may consider them but only if have appeared in limited venue and for a short period of time. Submissions will remain open until we have a sufficient amount of material to make a selection from. Estimated publication date for the journal is late winter 2011 or January next year. Payments: Leaves for Art is not intended as a financial venture; those behind it do not expect to make much of a profit, but we would like to able to offer something. For Fiction, by which we mean both short stories and prose poems, contributors shall be paid at the rate of one cent per word up to the maximum of fifty dollars, (if accepted multiple items will be calculated separately along with complementary copies of the journal. Reviews, poetry and critical articles will normally be paid for with contributor copies. We would like to be able to offer cash payment for these as well but sadly it's not financially viable at present. Please send all questions, submissions or comments to evans_lichamleas at yahoo.com *Title is tentative and may be subject to revision before publication

[Freyasfire]

I am looking forward to this very much. It sounds quite exciting! Will this publication be put out in association with Ex Occidente Press?

[Nigromontanus]

There is nothing to worry about, Freyasfire. Leaves for Art is not put out in collaboration with Ex Occidente Press. It just happens that I am probably its first and most loyal advocate. If there is something odd about a publisher openly, actively supporting another publisher, I don't know what to say. Thus, you should also not be surprised if in the near future, with the cavalcade of new Ex Occidente Press books going to be released by the end of this year, you will find promotional flyers / notes dedicated to Leaves for Art in the parcels I am sending out.

Leaves for Art is a path that chance had miraculously unblocked. Whatever happened to those charming men, poets and mystics, embitttered, sweet-natured dandies, easily amused or driven to despair? They could not stand it anymore. Leaves for Art is going to bring them back. The potential is gargantuan and I know Daniel's heart is in the right place. Do not mistake Leaves for Art for "total freedom", however. There is no such thing and I hope we will see more than the "usual suspects" in the pages of the Journal. I will not be surprised though to see that, overnight, 80% of the authors convert themselves to Symbolism, just to appear in Leaves for Art. I know Daniel will not be so easily fooled.

[Evans]

Quote Originally Posted by Freyasfire

I am looking forward to this very much. It sounds quite exciting! Will this publication be put out in association with Ex Occidente Press?

The idea for Hieroglyphic, though it was known by something different then, came about last year when Dan had announced it looked likely that his publishing plans would reach an end the coming February. Of course, along with the handsome hardcover collections from John Howard, Colin Insole and the great Mark Valentine, it would also mean no more translations of forgotten classics and other more esoteric items of European literature

Now even with Ex Occidente in full operation there were very few publishers translating the kind of material I and others are passionate about - Pushkin Press was the only really consistent one for fiction with Anvil and Carcanet struggling heroically to hold the fort for poetry. Even 'Decadent' publishers like Dedalus in its hayday seemed to my eyes to focus on works that were self-consciousness 'naughty or deviant' and even in this their remit seemed markedly limited - after all it was Puskin that brought out Morand's poisonous Hecate and Her Dogs and Marsilio who began some of the first decent translation of d'Annuzio. With Dan gone for fiction all we would have would be Tartarus, for translations virtually no one save the above mentioned. Even with these individuals it would mean works of aesthetic and mystical Mittel-European fiction would become very scarce indeed.

So after some discussion with Dan and various others, not to mention much patient advice from Ray Russell, I decided to look into enquiring about small-scale translations of works in a Symbolist vein. For one thing, and I owe it to Mr Samuels for pointing this out, there was an excellent author whose work formed a thematic bridge between the French Symbolists such as Villiers De L'Isle-Adam and more well known writers of English supernaturalism like Blackwood or Machen, the translation of whom had recently ground to a halt due to previous publisher troubles. Latter on, and probably more excitingly for myself, I was able to pursue the possibility of translating an important Symbolist novella that has been unjustly overlooked due to the language it was originally written in.

Now February has been and gone, and Dan and Ex Occidente are thankfully still with us, albeit focusing on slightly different format at present, and will likely publish more translated material soon the fates permitting. Quite apart from The Bricked Up Windows volume he has unearthed, the world needs an English translation of Caragiale's The Rakes of the Old Courtyard, not to mention the publication of a very important work as yet veiled from the world.

After discussing things further with him and several others to whom I am also grateful gave their blessing for my proposed Symbolist translation plans anyway to go ahead anyway. Hence I shall also be able to make some interesting translations available to the world beginning early next year. Expect, for the moment, Guido Gozzano, Alexandru Macedonski and more than one title by Stefan Grabinski.

So while none of this is being done in collaboration I owe Dan an immeasurable debt for his help and advice and intend to champion Ex Occidente as I have always done. Many thanks are also due to Mark Valentine, Brendan Connell, my co-editor Mark Samuels and the Russells, both Ray and Tim.

I shall post more about the journal itself, which is the item I'm most looking forward too bringing about, later on if people are interested, but at the moment I must recover from all yesterday's Ebay dispatches.

[Freyasfire]

How wonderful! I am truly grateful there are passionate people like you in the world that are keeping these literary flames burning. I have a feeling I'm going to be discovering many new writers through your work, and I shall keep a close eye out for any of your publications. Are there any plans for a website/blog in the near future?

[Evans]

Quote Originally Posted by Freyasfire

How wonderful! I am truly grateful there are passionate people like you in the world that are keeping these literary flames burning. I have a feeling I'm going to be discovering many new writers through your work, and I shall keep a close eye out for any of your publications. Are there any plans for a website/blog in the near future?

Thanks for the well wishes Freyasfire,

Yes, that's an interesting question. A few weeks ago I admitted my complete inability to do anything beyond basic HTML text and handed that side of things over to someone with more expertise than I. We hope to have something up online mid November time.

A few other points:

1. If we get enough submissions throughout the categories and it seems to sell well enough we hope to make the publication biannual.

2. The name Leaves For Art is very tentative and will likely not be the final name at all. Opinions are very split upon this at the moment...

3. If anyone's interested in calling a place in terms of book and or music reviews, or just wants to enquire about some aspect they're more than welcome to contact me about it here or via email. Me and Mark have a prioraity list of newly released items we would ideally wish to be reviewed in the first issue.

A very basic and likely not very sucessful attempt to explain what was meant by our choice of the word Symbolism.

'Many collections of fiction or journals tended to focus on generic Post-Sixties horror or in the more fortunate cases 'Weird Fiction' both of which, while I much admire many the writers involved, are totally different and in some cases almost the opposite to what I wanted to explore. Also much of the contemporary weird/horror seemed to pass over a huge range of wonderful writers who originally wrote in languages other than English.

So I have chosen to use the term Symbolism, not because all of the authors we like are necessarily Symbolists - in fact more than half the writers mention in the 'Authors We Like' section wouldn't be considered so, but because many of the features of Symbolism i.e. the aestheticism, the contempt with decayed modernity, the mystical aspects, the love of 'cultural traditions and hermetic histories' and the devotion to style and skill in language itself, tally with what we wish to champion.'

[nomis]

Congratulations, Evans. Is this your long-gestating project? If so, I'm glad it's finally seeing the light.

[Nigromontanus]

Ah, but what about the Zymbolists?

Imagine, a Cabaret Zoltaire of the Zymbolists! What the heck I am talking about?

All in the newest Mark Valentine collection, our greatest and kindest patron.

[Evans]

Would any readers who are fluent in German be interested in assisting me with something? It would involve selecting and translating three or four pieces, most about a paragraph in length, and would be paid for with a couple of contributors copies. It wouldn't begin until at least a week from now either. If so please PM or email me.

Quote Originally Posted by nomis

Congratulations, Evans. Is this your long-gestating project? If so, I'm glad it's finally seeing the light.

Yes, indeed it is Simon, and thank you for your well wishes. I am very grateful to you for your help a while ago when I was going round trying to guage what the standard print run is for this type of publication.

Quote Originally Posted by Nigromontanus

Ah, but what about the Zymbolists? Imagine, a Cabaret Zoltaire of the Zymbolists! What the heck I am talking about? All in the newest Mark Valentine collection, our greatest and kindest patron.

Well, I don't think I need say to the ladies and gentlemen here that I anticipate the Atlas to be finest new work published this year,

Perhaps in the next issue of the journal we shall have Sacred Mysteries & Veiled Heresies: The short fiction of Mark Valentine, the article I have been threatening to write for a while now.

And Dan, please, remember the last days off Roman, you owe us...

[nomis]

Quote Originally Posted by Evans

Would any readers who are fluent in German be interested in assisting me with something? It would involve selecting and translating three or four pieces, most about a paragraph in length, and would be paid for with a couple of contributors copies. It wouldn't begin until at least a week from now either. If so please PM or email me.

If no one steps forward, speak to either Lady Lovecraft or Joe Pulver.