"There is No Gate Here." Q & A With Sarah Wells, Founder & Curator of The Glass Garage Collective
Okay, guys. I’ll be honest.
I was a bit unsure how this interview would fly. The Glass Garage Collective is not a literary magazine in any traditional sense. And Sarah Wells is not (presently) a literary-journal editor so much as a curator of visual arts. As your devoted guide to all things lit-mag, I did not want to disappoint.
However! Far from disappointing, my chat with Sarah was absolutely exciting, inspiring, and quite educational. GGC houses two outfits, a yet-to-be-launched zine called Mother Tongue and a mail art project called We Are All Guests Here.
I had never heard of mail art, but Sarah explained how this art form has its roots in Dada and Surrealism, with artists looking to seek connection outside traditional institutions, and often without the credentials these institutions provide. This led naturally to a conversation about gate-keeping, who and what defines what is valuable, and how mundane experiences can become elevated to something aesthetically profound.
For We Are All Guests Here, no work is ever rejected. Sarah accepts any form of artwork through the mail—comics, poetry, drawings, or the less conventional, such as notes from a doctor or receipts. If you have a yearning to send something meaningful to you to another person, Sarah will receive. She carefully documents the work and displays it all. She is open for submissions now.
I’m so thrilled I had this chance to talk with Sarah, to learn about the amazing and inspiring work she is doing, and to be able to share her project with all of you.
(For those wondering, the third guest here is my former student and dear friend Alyssa. All subscribers are invited to participate in the zoom chats live, whenever they take place.)
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Questions, comments or rambling thoughts?
Great interview, more a casual chat with lots of information. I love the fact that people exist who do such great work with such enthusiasm. It's good to see Literature defined as literatures, one being an austere object of critical reverence, the other allowing many ordinary voices to be heard, ones who don't have agents, publishers, and proofreaders. There are out there in many ordinary classrooms, young people writing stories and essays that have many grammatical errors, but express, despite many limitations, visions that are strong and unique. It was great to bring attention to such important endeavors. I taught English for many years in Brooklyn NY and read so many excellent personal stories and essays, many "hindered" by grammatical errors, but nonetheless powerful and meaningful. It is good to know that places exist that take such "lesser" narratives important and profound. Great, great interview. Thank you for bringing this project to light. RT
This whole concept is exciting and relevant to the madcap images and detritus of our day !!! How significant ! a new concept of conception can communicate our confines and conflagrations ! Yes !