What is Culture-Voice.com?
What do you get when you trap five photographers, four English teachers, three poets, two theologians, two web-designers, a medical doctor, three PhDs and an Epicurean-Minimalist-with-Platonic-sensibilities in the basement of Oxford's library? Alongside a funk that rivals aged cheese, you get an interesting conversation.
In the Autumn of 2005 a group of (mostly) strangers found themselves stranded in the basement of Oxford's Radcliffe Camera Library. A simple doorknob failure left the group trapped for several hours past closing time. Amidst the oversized volumes and stony must, the group exchanged names and research topics. It helped that very few of them were actually enrolled at Oxford University; much of the aloof, Oxbrit pretentiousness was thus avoided. They huddled together like Cambridge-lepers in the cold until help arrived. Of the group, seven exchanged email addresses and kept the conversation going internationally over cyberspace.
It became clear that the ongoing dialog was unique - something they had not found in their familiar ivory towers, churches, pubs or blogs. Culture-Voice.com was born out of that initial conversation in the Radcliffe. It now includes essayists, artists and poets that were not in the original doorknob clan. Still, the tone of that original chance meeting survives in this here webzine.*
Why a Webzine?
Media is, by its nature, fluid. Between the ebb and flow of new and familiar art, culture evolves. What was once sufficient as simple metonymy on cave walls has become digital zeros and ones. Like it or not, the information age means that any yahoo with a keyboard can ramble on in all caps and bad cliché. Yet there are still those among us who, if want for red paint, would prick themselves for the right hue. Cutlure-Voice is an attempt to give talented writers and artists, who would otherwise publish on paper, a venue to disseminate en masse. Moreover, many of our writers are attracted to the idea of publishing under pseudonyms.
We are not a blog. We, the editorial staff of "Vox", commit to publish only articles of the highest quality. If it would not sell in print, it will not be posted on this zine. There will be no oft-repeated sound bytes. There will be no family photos of our vacations in the Lakes District. There will be no cute puns uttered from the mouths of five-year olds. As God as our witness, there will be no "cute puns" at all! Rather, there will be short stories, poetry, film reviews, essays, political commentary, photography and, yes, there will be blood.
Who are we?
At our core, we are still that group of frustrated grad-students and professors that huddled together in the bowels of Oxford cold. Most of us publish here under assumed names - that is, pen-names - that is, pseudonyms - that is to say that we're big cowards. Because we make our livings in academia and/or the publishing world, many of our names have been withheld.
It is the sad truth that publishing for a popular audience and without technical jargon is a sub-culture taboo. Some of us are employed by ideologues and thus are conscious of the professional consequences of free speech. Others among us have better reasons: Some of our writers live and work in countries where free speech is not a reality. Still others are bold enough to use their real names!
Where is Culture-Voice.com based?
We hail from the San Andreas Fault to the Rockies, from Southern Comfort to Eastern commonwealth, from Eastern blocks to John Knox, from Down Under to icy tundra, from well-educated to completely fabricated. For more cryptic specifics see our individual bio pages.
Would you like to write for Culture-Voice.com?
If you're a seasoned wordsmith with something interesting, provocative or (at least) entertaining to contribute, please go to our contact us page and send an email to our editorial staff.
*No doorknobs were harmed in the making of this mythology.