Editorial

Why Irreantum

From the time I took Eugene England's Mormon literature class at BYU in 1993, I have been fascinated by Mormon literature. That fascination has been kept alive for me mainly through AML-List, the active, well-moderated e-mail discussion group sponsored by the Association for Mormon Letters. Irreantum is very much an outgrowth of relationships, ideas, and approaches that first arose-and continue to arise-on AML-List.

We see Irreantum not only skimming the cream off AML-List but doing so in a way that appeals to a broader audience than AML-List can practically reach. The magazine is able to offer things an e-mail list cannot, mainly because of length restrictions but also because of strengths print media still have over electronic media. While the magazine is inspired by AML-List, Irreantum is breaking new ground by offering fiction, poetry, essays, reviews, interviews, and publishing industry news that hasn't appeared elsewhere.

Another magazine devoted exclusively to Mormon literature doesn't currently exist, but three magazines publish fiction, poetry, reviews, and essays related to Mormon literature: Sunstone, Dialogue, and BYU Studies (actually, BYU Studies doesn't appear to be publishing fiction anymore). But in all three magazines, the literary pieces are mixed in with a lot of other general-interest intellectual material, ranging from history to doctrine to sociology. And in the case of Sunstone and Dialogue, those two brand names make a lot of people uncomfortable because the publications often criticize or attempt to reinvent Church history, doctrine, and policy.

And besides, those other publications are primarily academic in their approach and appeal to a highly educated, even scholarly audience. Irreantum appeals to an educated, literate audience, but our influences are Entertainment Weekly and Book: The Magazine for the Reading Life (a fantastic magazine-see www.bookmagazine.com) as much as high-brow literary journals such as Granta, Ploughshares, and the Partisan Review. I don't consider Irreantum an academic journal but a general-interest magazine aimed at anyone who reads, writes, or otherwise has an interest in Mormon literature in all forms, not only books but plays, films, music lyrics, and any other art that draws significantly on the written word.

We do not intend to pigeonhole Irreantum as either culturally liberal or conservative. We want to give orthodox books, authors, and presses as much attention and respect as we give liberal books, authors, and presses. We consider ourselves more free to explore a wide range of Mormon literature than a magazine sponsored by BYU, for example, yet we do not want to make mainstream LDS readers and writers uncomfortable with our publication. We are seeking the middle ground, the temperate zones between the equator of Church-sanctioned publishing and the nether poles. That zone has room for active Mormons writing orthodox fiction (for example, Gerald Lund), active or semiactive Mormons writing liberal fiction for the Mormon market (Linda Sillitoe), active Mormons writing fiction for national audiences (Orson Scott Card), inactive Mormons writing for national audiences (Walter Kirn), and members of other faiths writing about Mormon characters and themes (Tony Kushner). We are interested in all literature by, for, or about Mormons and in general literature seen through Mormon eyes.

Therefore you will see reviews, essays, interviews, poetry, and fiction in Irreantum from a wide variety of cultural perspectives. We hope that if you encounter something in Irreantum that is either too spicy or too bland for your tastes, you will trust the magazine to offer an overall satisfying mix as time goes forward. Personally, I am most interested in how Mormon authors and subjects are breaking into the national literary scene. But I and other Irreantum staffers are also keenly interested in the large and healthy industry that publishes products for the mainstream LDS audience, and we hope Irreantum can influence the developing tastes of those readers (so far the magazine is carried in about 20 LDS bookstores).

In my nonfiction reading, I'm currently fascinated with the outsider perspective offered by Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling in their recent book Mormon America. "A characteristically literal turn of mind combined with dogmatic Mormon ideals and a certain cultural isolation results in highly sentimentalized" art, write the Ostlings. In Mormonism, they continue, "art is confused with propaganda, never with a quest; preconceived answers precede questions. In Mormon culture art is inspiration or entertainment, not exploration. As a result, Mormons-like those in some other American sectarian groups-are largely absent from the highest levels of achievement in the fine arts, literature, and the humanities in general." My highest hope for Irreantum is that whenever Mormons prove the Ostlings wrong in the area of literature, the magazine will be involved in prompting, previewing, and reviewing such accomplishments.

Irreantum has been around for a full year now, so if you've been holding back on submissions to see if we're a viable concern, we invite you to send them in. We would like to publish letters to the editor, but we have not yet received any letters of substance. If you or someone you know wants to support Mormon literature by donating funds for improving the printing quality of Irreantum, the Association for Mormon Letters is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization for tax purposes. By the way, if you don't recognize the magazine's name, see 1 Nephi 17:5 in the Book of Mormon. The word has a unique Mormon sound and literary symbolism that reflects the magazine's purpose.