Barstow & Grand

Barstow & Grand Comes Of Age: Celebrating 6 Issues!

Thomas DeLapp

Fresh-faced from a day of teaching and the latest round of journal-proofreading, Eric Rasmussen dropped into a chair at SHIFT with a kombucha and a smile.  The editor and founder of Barstow & Grand, now six years deep into publication, is looking forward to the release of the sixth edition this November.  This year, things have gotten a little bit easier.

“It’s the passage of time, you know,” Rasmussen said. “Hey, we’ve been doing this for a while.  It feels like there’s a little less pressure than in the past.” 

Founded in 2016 to establish a local, community journal for Chippewa Valley writers, Barstow & Grand has had to change with the time — expanding to a more general “upper Midwest” audience in 2020 — but still maintains its hometown roots and support. 

This year, the book release will again be at Lazy Monk Brewery on November 16th.  Mark your calendars! As always, the release will feature time for contributors to read their piece, talk about their process, or just use the open floor.  Literature and camaraderie will abound.

2016, Rasmussen said, was a sort of watershed moment for the Valley’s writing community.  The founding of the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild and Barstow & Grand brought together Eau Claire’s writers in ways they hadn’t been connected before.

“Eau Claire has always been a rich literary place, but now we are all more aware of each other and more comfortable interacting,” Rasmussen said. 

 

Barstow & Grand has held a unique position as a hometown journal that allows it to be both personal and accessible.  The expansion to the “upper Midwest” was born out of necessity, Rasmussen said, but has worked out excellently. 

“The writing world is ultimately pretty small, so there’s usually those six degrees of separation back to Eau Claire,” he said.
That expansion helped to bring many new voices into the Chippewa Valley alongside those already established community writers — which Rasmussen said has both perks and drawbacks.

My goal has always been to support this writing community, give them those stepping stones. On the other side of the coin, it’s kinda terrifying to be the person that says yes and no to friends, contacts, former professors of mine.  But it’s a responsibility I take very seriously.
— Eric Rasmussen

“My goal has always been to support this writing community, give them those stepping stones,” he said.  “On the other side of the coin, it’s kinda terrifying to be the person that says yes and no to friends, contacts, former professors of mine.  But it’s a responsibility I take very seriously.” 

Elizabeth de Cleyre

credit: Alexandra Mae

Luckily, Rasmussen isn’t the only one on the Barstow & Grand team — and they are welcoming some new members this issue: new prose editor, Elizabeth de Cleyre, and prose reader, Scout Roux.

de Cleyre, besides being a well-established writer and editor, is also the co-founder of Dotter’s Books in Eau Claire.  Roux is Barstow & Grand’s first non-local staffer ­— a Madison based writer who is fiction editor for Nightingale and Sparrow Magazine.

“Elizabeth is a writer and editor at a level that’s just way above us, so that she is willing to work with us is just great,” Rasmussen said. “She’s infused the journal with such an energy.  And we are so happy to have Scout on board — they’re helping us spread out a little bit, fulfilling that ‘upper Midwest’ coverage instead of just local people.”

For her first issue, de Cleyre also contributed the issue’s editor’s note, which reflected on the newly remodeled of the L.E. Phillips Memorial Library and the vitality of such spaces.  She and Rasmussen agree: the library has long been a cornerstone of Eau Claire’s literary community and character.  The remodeling gives them hope for a future full of writing, literature, and conversation.

The library is also, directly, a supporter of Barstow & Grand, and will contribute sound equipment for the book release event on November 16th. 

The Chippewa Valley literary community is largely made up of those whose first profession isn’t writing.  Balancing writing, then, with other responsibilities isn’t the easiest thing to do — which Rasmussen knows well.  However, there are some parallels between teaching high school English and running a literary journal.

A significant percentage of high school teaching is trying to get kids excited about the process, he said.  Until they have investment in the material and process, nothing will get done — which is similar to interest in literary journals.  It’s hard to keep writing, keep submitting, keep reading.

So how does Rasmussen: teacher, writer, and double editor (he is also fiction editor at Sundog Lit) keep everything balanced?

“People ask that question a lot, and I’ve tried a lot of different answers,” he said.  “Bottom line, the people who have a passion just figure it out.  Someone who loves to garden, they just figure out how to garden, they don’t sit around and lament that they don’t have time for gardening.  You do what you love, and you figure out how to do it.  My formula wouldn’t work for anyone else anyways.”

One thing that keeps him going, year after year, is being able to spend extra time with the pieces in the journal.  Often, he said, the initial read through of literature isn’t where you find what is impressive.  It’s in rereading and reflection that the meaning and value of pieces are revealed. 

On the other side, Rasmussen knows the struggles of submitting — he is a writer too, after all.  Part of the process is getting pieces accepted, but most of the time: rejection.  He even wrote a blog post about his 100th rejection in 2016.  So even when writers are rejected from Barstow & Grand, Rasmussen wants them to keep submitting even more. 

“If I could visit each local author to say, ‘thanks for your submission, please submit again,’ I would do it.”
— Eric Rasmussen

“If I could visit each local author to say, ‘thanks for your submission, please submit again,’ I would do it,” he said. “I don’t want anyone in the community to stop submitting because we didn’t take a piece or because we’re not the right home for them. I want to remain as welcoming as possible, and make sure to avoid any illusion that we are too good for you or your writing, or not welcoming of writers that write what you write.”

So, writers: keep writing and submitting.  Eric Rasmussen said you have to.  After six years of Barstow & Grand, one of the biggest things he’s learned was just how important the personality and connection the Chippewa Valley literary community are.

“I have learned, lately, that anything impressive takes a long time to get established,” Rasmussen said. “I’m confident there will always be literary folks around town trying different projects and doing what excites them.  If this was a business, and I needed to feed my family, I’d be worried about how we evolve.  But that’s not what we are.  This is a passion project, and we’ll do it this way until it doesn’t make sense.”

The 6th issue of Barstow & Grand will be released on November 16th at Lazy Monk Brewery.  For more information, visit the Barstow & Grand website

Introducing Barstow and Grand’s Newest Prose Reader, Scout Roux

By Dawson Jollie

Literary communities can be like families: tightly-knit networks of people seeking to support one another through common goals. As an active literary citizen both here in Eau Claire and Wisconsin as a whole, Scout Roux understands the apt comparison.

Writing fiction for a collection of journals and publications such as HASH and Lunch Ticket, the former UW- Eau Claire English major also spends invaluable time as a fiction editor for Nightingale and Sparrow. More recently, Scout signed on to serve as a prose reader for Barstow and Grand.

“I’m really proud of being a writer from Wisconsin,” Roux discussed in a recent interview with the Guild. “There are so many interesting people and situations we come across that aren’t often represented in literature, especially in any positive way… These uniquely Wisconsin experiences are fundamental not just to my development as a writer, but also as a person…”

Roux credits the state’s literary community, which serves as an ideal region for upstart writers seeking a “vibrant,” nurturing environment. To a strong degree, they believe the Guild plays its part locally as well, to help “mold and maintain” these strong connections, much akin to other organizations across Wisconsin.

Roux’s past and present involvement with fellow local writers, allowed them to develop key insight on fiction as a craft to establish a unique voice in their work. And when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, they deem it essential to simply emphasize reading and listening. According to Roux, “diversifying one’s reading” is the perfect opportunity to gain an understanding for a variety of characters since the genre is “trying to make sense of real life.” Similarly, listening to individuals and the way they converse in public helps to form a more realistic, compelling dialogue for these characters.

Roux is but one of many literary magazine editors who believes that these local journals help home these vital skills for writers. Such publications, online and print, serve a purpose: bringing together creative minds and helping them express their work to the public.

“Community and literary citizenship: these ideas look like a lot of different things, but the way they often culminate is in journals. They’re celebrations of local writers; reading them, also, a celebration.”
— Scout Roux

“Community and literary citizenship: these ideas look like a lot of different things,” Roux said, “but the way they often culminate is in journals. They’re celebrations of local writers; reading them, also, a celebration.”

Though currently living in Madison, Roux often views their interactions with the Chippewa Valley’s literary community beyond journal work such as reading for Barstow and Grand. The connection runs deeper, Scout explains, back to classroom experiences at UWEC, involvement in student organizations such as NOTA, and once again staying in touch with the Guild. Roux praises the CVWG for its effort in rallying Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley toward the celebration of literature.

“The people who work with the Guild in any capacity are tireless in their efforts to bring writers together and encourage nonwriters that they’re writers, too, as long as they want to be,” Roux said.

And what better a place for new writers than Barstow and Grand? With prose and poetry submissions open until April 30, maybe it’s time to take that leap onto the page!

For more information on submissions for Barstow and Grand: click here!

Barstow & Grand Issue 2 Sneak Preview!

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by Erin Stevens

The second issue of Barstow & Grand will soon be released into the world, and we’re getting ready to celebrate. Consider this your formal invitation to the issue two release party on Tuesday, October 16th!

At this year’s release party, you’ll have the chance to purchase issues one and two of Barstow & Grand, as well as any other books or publications by the contributors of issue two. The editors of the journal will be our hosts for the evening, so you’ll have the opportunity to get to know them, say hi, and ask them any questions you may have about submitting to the journal.

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Then, of course, there’s the main attraction of the evening: a reading. You’ll be able to sit back and listen as the issue’s 14 contributors read from the work they submitted to the journal.

“The mix of contributors will show off the range of writers we were able to publish,” says Eric Rasmussen, Editor of Barstow & Grand. “People who live in town and who are traveling over to participate, young, old, folks who have published widely, and others for whom this will be the first publication.”

One of those contributors who submitted her work from outside Eau Claire city limits is Rebekah Morrisson. Morrisson, who graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 2014, currently lives in Maine where she works as a Trail Specialist at Baxter State Park. She drew from her trail building work for the short story that’s featured in issue two.

“Having my first published short story featured in Barstow & Grand's second issue is more than an honor,” says Rebekah.

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Since graduating from UWEC, she’s lived in parts of California and Maine for months at a time, making it difficult to find writing communities. That’s why she’s so grateful that Barstow & Grand exists so that she can stay connected to a community she loves so much.

“While I can't attend the release party, I can share in the excitement of another issue by reading it and experiencing the stories there which ground me in a community that I always want to be a part of,” says Rebekah. (Click here to hear a recent piece written by Rebekah).

Something else for attendees to look forward to 一 a chance to check out Eau Claire’s brand new arts center. Yes, you read that right! This year’s release party will be hosted at the Pablo Center at the Confluence. Come for the reading, mingle with members of your favorite local writing community, and also see what this new venue has to offer.

When asked what he’s most excited for, Eric’s answer came without hesitation.

“My favorite part is handing issues to the contributors and everyone who helped with the issue,” he says. “Producing the journal is a lot of work, and that moment when people see it and flip to their names or pieces - that’s a pretty cool moment.”

You, too, can be part of this moment! Make sure to come to the Pablo on Tuesday, October 16th at 7 p.m. to grab your copy of issue two and support our talented community! In advance, please snag your FREE ticket here!