Hadassah Broscova: “I am the Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious Carpe Articulum Literary Review: Journal of the Stars. The magazine is an international perfect bound collectible, delivered to over 47 countries and is translated into four languages. It is a cross-genre, full colour, review, hosting Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Photography, Screenwriting, Articles, Interviews and Novellas to promote emergent voices whom might never have otherwise been heard. It also features one or two celebrities every single quarter in an exclusive interview about the industry changes, their lives, literary and industry insights. This also brings instant prominence and recognition to emergent writers, plucking them out of obscurity and bringing them immediately into the spotlight. Carpe Articulum is the only literary journal in the world to accomplish all of these things. It also engages global conversations and concerns about environmental issues, believing that raising awareness on subjects outside of the agendized mainstream media, but of global concern, should not be avoided in the literary arts.”
Broscova has been published, cited and lauded by Dartmouth Collegefor her interview with Harrison and Herbert F. Solow in Carpe Articulum Literary Review. She is the founder of Carpe Articulum Foundation, and an accomplished “Interviewer to the Stars”: Jeff Goldblum, Lord (Charles) Spencer, Ninth Earl Spencer (brother to the late Princess Diana) Jodi Picoult, (My Sister’s Keeper, Nineteen Minutes, House Rules) Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul series) Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, The Last Song) Herbert F. Solow (ex-head of Hollywood MGM Studios, Desilu, Paramount Studios, Producer: Star Trek) Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickle and Dimed, Bright Sided) Chitra Divakaruni (author, human rights activist and movie inspiration: Mistress of Spices, Sister of My Heart, Palace of Illusions, Arranged Marriage, The Vine of Desire, The Conch Bearer), Ray Harryhausen (father of modern filmmaking special effects) and many more.
She is the founder City Of Asylum, Refugee Writer Project, Portland Chapter. “This program takes in Refugee writers from closed communities around the world like Burma (Myanmar) and Tibet. These writers have been beaten, imprisoned (some on death row) and tortured for having spoken out against human rights violations in their respective former countries. The program provides them with a living stipend of 30K per year and free housing for two years, plus their first publishing, as well as medical care. This is an outstanding program which represents vitally needed voices from around the world.”
She has been the Editor-in-Chief of Crossroads Literary Review, founded by HBU, for two years. She has served as Editor-in-Chief of Carpe Articulum Literary Review for over seven years.
She is the recipient of the Danny Lee Lawrence Award for both poetry and fiction, the NSAL Portland Chapter Head (National Society for Arts & Letters), a judge for the International Carpe Verbum Poetry Competition, editor of at least five books distributed internationally, a ghost writer, a proud AHC member, a proud AWP and CLMP (Council of Literary Magazines and Presses) member/affiliate, a Cambridge Who’s Who Member of Note, unanimously voted “Writer of the Year Award” by HBU, a public speaker on writing and publishing, and currently nominated for the Pushcart Prize for her short fiction piece “Ritni,” a native Saami Indian bildungsroman.
Her new educational DVD is to be released this year with colleague Dr. James Ulmer, Professor of English and Dept. Head, Creative Writing at Houston Baptist University Program. “The series covers issues such as transforming narrative into story, advanced inner workings of point of view, pace, tone, setting and hooks.”
Broscova is the author of dozens of articles, and her new book is to be released this year: “House of Broken Glass, a collection of short stories and novellas, and That Which is Inherited an historical fiction novel taking place in 1890 London.”
Natasha Stagg: Give us a short description of your journal.
Hadassah Broscova: Carpe Articulum Literary Review: Journal of the Stars, is an international, cross-genre, full colour, perfect bound quarterly journal. It has a large, global readership and features international writers. Available in five languages and in e-zine form, and readable on PCs, iPhones, and iPads everywhere, the journal provides a broad spectrum of availability for the readers, and a great deal of coverage for emergent writers.
Every quarter, a new celebrity, famous author or other international person of literary note is featured in an exclusive interview. This is a great service as it can take an emergent writer’s work to high visibility and to the right audience. It also makes it possible to read intimate insights into the ever-changing industry via people who have gone before, and succeeded in a highly competitive field. From Jeff Goldblum to Mark Victor Hansen, from Jodi Picoult to Nicholas Sparks, from Herbert Solow to Lord Charles Spencer, Princess Diana‘s Brother, one can see the screenwriting, novel, and non-fiction world from the inside out.
NS: Where are you from, and where do you live now?
HB: I have lived and traveled abroad but am a U.S. citizen living in Lake Oswego, OR, where our U.S. base is for CALR. Tours to promote the journal are ongoing and global travel is a big part of spreading the word annually.
NS: How does your magazine fit into the world of publishing today?
HB: CALR acts as a catalyst for inter-disciplinary studies, even featuring scientific articles and important global issues affecting our overall sustainability.
Also, CALR includes competitions, which award $10,000.00 every year to the following genres: Short Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction, Novellas and Photography. It is a non-profit which hosts a Refugee Writer’s Program called City of Asylum wherein people being brutalized, imprisoned, beaten and removed from family members (simply because they have spoken out against oppressive regimes in their countries) are brought to the U.S. and are given a 30K per year stipend, free housing and medical, as well as publication for their first work to launch their writing careers. All of this is provided by us, with some support from concerned people of the world who have expressed an interest in helping us with this important humanitarian cause. Human Rights’ violations must be confronted, and this is our way of doing so.
NS: Does CALR do anything else that no one else is doing?
HB: Yes. We offer publication for novellas and non-fiction, which is distinct and rare. We offer broader visibility (due to celebrity endorsement, interviews and participation) than any other literary magazine. We provide more financial opportunities than almost any other literary device offered to the public, including the opportunities for international writers as an under-served population (most reviews and literary magazines do not open themselves to international writers).
We also touch upon world concern issues such as the pacific Garbage Patch piece we did on the huge floating island of garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean, which is actively threatening our food source and endangering already threatened species of birds.
NS: How do you feel about literary journals in general: simply a necessary means to an end, or something more worthwhile than even anthologies these days?
HB: Great question. I think literary journals are essential on all levels. I wish some of them were a little broader in their scope so as to include less ivory-towered readership (which I frankly adore but it does little to reach out to the next generation and people who could easily be brought into the fold as they are already on the cusp). Regardless, literary journals are incredibly important high water marks for looking at the collective voice of a time period… the zeitgeist if you will, in a real and meaningful way. They are reflective of the concerns and issues that arise and are dominant in the minds of the literary public, while being less temporary (or error-filled) as newspapers have sadly become. It used to be that excellent journalism and newspapers provided this insight, but they have sadly diluted into sound bites and “charticles,” much of this due to the beheading of seasoned, competent editors. Now it falls to us to keep the tradition alive.
NS: What kind of stuff does your journal publish, and how to we submit?
HB: We publish photography, non-fiction, short fiction, poetry, articles, book reviews, interviews, and novellas.
For the competitions, one must register on the site and submit online, where they can view their work’s progress. Deadlines are annual and revolving so if someone misses one event, it will automatically roll over to the next date. This way no one loses out. Normal submissions are welcome as well, but are harder to get published as there is a huge line of excellent material submitted. Work entered into the competitions is privileged above other entries.
Dates/awards are as follows:
Short fiction (or novella):
$1,250.00 1st prize, 2nd $300.00, 3rd $100.00
Deadlines: March 30, September 30
Screenwriting, novellas:
$1,000.00 1st prize, 2nd $300.00, 3rd $100.00
Deadlines: January 7, August 30
Poetry:
$400.00 1st prize, 2nd $200.00, 3rd $100.00
Deadlines: March 30, September 30
Photography:
$400.00 1st prize, 2nd $200.00 3rd $100.00
Deadline: August 30
ESSAY/ NON-FICTION:
$700.00 1st , 2nd $300.00 3rd $100.00
Deadlines: January 7, August 30
NS: Do you think literary journals are endangered?
HB: Absolutely. Poor economy, rising illiteracy rates, higher school drop-out rates, over-emphasis on science and mathematics at the expense of the arts, federal cutting of the arts’ financial support, poor business acumen on the part of journals’ staffs have all contributed to this.
NS: Is becoming “online only” something to be worried about?
HB: Yes. While it is necessary for the survival of many literary journals to do this, it hurts readership for a variety of reasons. Chief among them, that sitting before any kind of computer screen is subconsciously considered to be “work” by the vast majority. In keeping in line with literary tradition in general, the quiet, tactile experience of holding a book in one’s hands cannot be replicated.
NS: Will only the fittest survive, and could this be a good thing?
HB: As in all things, there is the good and the bad. Perhaps the loss of a few literary journals which are less dedicated, poorly edited, and poorly attended may not be a blow to the arts in general; I for one hate to see any literary or arts-related endeavor fail. For this reason, we have supported many who have approached us for much needed advice, and are proud to continue to do so.
NS: What about book-publishing?
HB: Yes, we are moving in to book publishing for those more prolific, promising writers.
NS: Had you heard of Sonora Review before this?
HB: Yes, but we have not arranged a scrip-swap with Sonora as of yet.