This fall, the Faith Matters Foundation will be launching a publication called Radiant, which will appear both as a weekly digital newsletter and an annual print journal. According to its editorial statement, “Radiant illuminates the human experience through the light of the Restoration. We publish a range of original writing: essays; book, film, and art criticism; interviews; dispatches; profiles; poetry; miracles; sermons, and more.” Contributors will be paid up to $200 per piece, depending on length. The editors have compiled a non-exclusive list of topics of interest to give readers a sense of the range of areas they’re interested in. “We are looking for pieces that are rooted in faith and spirit, but don’t have to be explicitly religious,” they note, “They are rather the flower and fruit of spiritual roots.”
Radiant‘s editor, Zachary Davis, answered a few questions for AML readers about the new venue:
Q: You’re interested in a broad range of genres. What do you think literary writing offers your audience that more traditional newsletter genres might miss?
Latter-day Saint theology is marked by expansiveness and imagination. Literary writing at its best shares those qualities, lovingly guiding readers to unexpected paths, vistas, and even transformations of mind and soul. My hope is that Radiant will be a home for those kinds of journeys.
Q: The submission guidelines mention poetry and essay. Are you also open to short fiction?
We didn’t list short fiction on the pitch guide because we were nervous about getting more submissions than we could carefully review, but here, among friends we trust, yes, yes we are.
Q: What’s a piece of book, film, or art criticism that models what you’re trying to achieve at Radiant?
Here’s a couple recent ones that come to mind:
Matthew Sitman on George Scialabba
Tara Isabella Burton on Amia Srinavasan
Q: Any guidance on when it’s better to send a pitch first and when writers should just send a draft?
Probably safer to send us pitches first so we can let you know if it’s a good fit, but on the other hand audentis Fortuna iuvat.