"Always Looking for That Next Piece." A Chat With Arielle McManus, Editor of Atlas + Alice

Nonfiction editor of online mag takes us behind the scenes

TGIF, my friends. And another interview is in the books!

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Arielle McManus, Editor of Atlas + Alice. This magazine

takes its name from the ATLAS and ALICE experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. These experiments look to explain some of the most fundamental characteristics of the universe. For instance, ATLAS contributed to the discovery of (what we think is) the Higgs Boson. Although the names of these experiments are technically acronyms, we find it beautiful, ironic, compelling that they also share names with two eminent literary figures.

Our Purpose: It’s that kind of intersection—in the case of our title, between literature and science—that interests us. We like things that meet, conjoin, dance, rebound, explode. Bring two things together; see what happens.

As described here, and as Arielle explained, this magazine is interested in the intersection of two concepts. It’s not necessarily science that is the focus (or anything too “science-y,” in my own very technical terms) but rather the conjoining of disparate elements in a way that shines light on something larger.

Arielle is open to all kinds of writing that explores this approach. The magazine does not solicit work from writers, thus everything published in its pages comes through open submissions. The magazine has published many writers for the first time.

While she loves to see a variety of themes and topics, some common approaches that she sees in submissions are metaphors of family members as monsters and breakups as broken bones. When reading a submission, she considers how unique it feels, and whether it feels like the writer has processed the material deeply.

She would love to see more pieces that deal with current events and reckon with our political climate. The magazine does not favor science fiction (in spite of its nod to science-y things on its about page), though Arielle did mention a love for Game of Thrones, and an interest in work that might achieve that book’s thematic heft (though not quite its word count).

Arielle’s day job is as a copywriter for a fashion brand. So in addition to talking about the magazine, we took a little detour into the world of copywriting, and certain overlaps between that form of writing and flash fiction. We also discussed what gives this magazine staying power, since it has been around for nearly one decade and is still going strong. To get all this and more, you’ll have to watch the video!

Atlas + Alice publishes twice per year in the categories of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Their next submission period will open in July.

They are also actively seeking readers. If you’d like to get involved, you can email Arielle or reach out to her via twitter @ariellemcmanus.

To everyone who came out to watch our conversation and ask questions, thank you for tuning in! Your faces are the bright sunshine in my rainy Friday afternoon!

And, of course, thank you to Arielle for taking the time to give us a peek inside another lovely little magazine.

Happy viewing!

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