Black Sun Lit is now accepting submissions for the second volume of Vestiges: Ennui.
Boredom was the tree of life that protected Adam against the ravages of old age; the ambrosia that cleansed the delightful body of Era. When Des Esseintes abandons the pleasures of bourgeois Paris, he does so in pursuit of a richer and more comfortable form of nothingness. When Proust expresses the persistence of memory (and the tumult of time), he does so by dint of being still. Boredom is how we perform our desires, what remains when all pain has been purged; boredom is a luxury that only a few can afford.
The pastoral is steeped in boredom just as the man of leisure leafing through endless mereological lists of an encyclopedia is bored: the fantastic encyclopedia is an invention to maintain the style of leisure while giving way to boredom. It is the anxiety of reading, the tension of the text when we expect it to shoot us into action. The second issue of Vestiges will explore boredom as a revelation of the void, where time loses all relevance and, consequently, gives life no urgency and no end. Where the spontaneity of the mind harmonizes with a delirium otherwise disrupted by the events of everyday living. Where reality as we must witness it becomes, out of necessity, estranged from meaning or interpretation: serves no higher purpose other than to ease us into the conditions of reverie and emptiness.
For consideration, submit either one piece of unpublished prose (not exceeding 5,000 words), up to five pieces of poetry (in one document, indicating the start of each piece), or one essay (not exceeding 5,000 words). For cover letter guidelines click here.
Thank you for allowing us to review your work—we look forward to reading.