Indie Editors Series: Alice Reid
“I’m looking for content that either oscillates wildly between highbrow and lowbrow, or exhibits an appreciation for both in equal measure. Sort of like how I’m just as likely to spend my spare time reading through the Booker Prize longlist as I am scrolling photo essays about celebrities with Ozempic Face. Or how I’ll generally ruin an otherwise scholarly conversation about AI and the Singularity with a well-timed fart.”
There are two wolves inside you; and Two Wolves Digest feeds them both!
A dedicated online, quarterly humour publication produced on Wurundjeri Land, Australia, Two Wolves Digest publishes content that is funny, chaotic, silly, surreal, satirical, and crude. They also seek out content that is smart, thoughtful, considered, and kind.
After a brief hiatus, editor Alice Reid is back at the helm and ready to devour more words. I caught up with her about imposter syndrome, what it means to occupy the space between low brow and high brow culture, and her top tips for editing.
Let’s start at the beginning: can you share a little more about your background as an editor - how did you get started in this space?
I feel a little fraudulent calling myself an editor! I don’t identify as an editor. It’s some of what I do at Two Wolves Digest, but the magazine is microscopic (as in, it’s just me), and I’m wearing all the hats. ‘Publisher’ might be more accurate.
To properly answer your question, though – I started in this space whilst studying Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT. I’m an indiscriminate reader and I enjoy helping people: running a submissions-based magazine means I get to read other writers’ work then give them a publishing platform. So that’s fun.
Two Wolves Digest has such a strong visual aesthetic - I love it! Can you tell us more about what prompted you to start the platform and how you conceptualised your look?
Thank you! Full disclosure: not much conceptualising happened. I just did it. Which will likely be a recurring theme throughout this interview.
Two Wolves Digest started last year as a uni project. We were tasked with creating an online platform for ourselves and I immediately thought ‘magazine’. I considered: (1) What sort of content I enjoy consuming online; (2) What I was capable of producing; and (3) What might set my magazine apart from other publications.
I’d also recently rekindled my love of drawing after a two-decade hiatus (I’d studied fine arts straight out of high school and it sucked the joy out of art-making for me). I started drawing stupid stuff on my iPad like Marilyn Manson having lunch with Paul from The Wonder Years (if you know you know) and Jenny from Forrest Gump’s face melting off while she played the guitar naked. It was low stakes art-making and completely un-high-falutin’ and I ended up having a ball.
Thus, I figured I was well-placed to illustrate the magazine, and I should make a magazine that suited my illustrations.
I’m curious to learn more about your stance that Two Wolves Digest “occupies the space between low brow and high brow culture” - why was this an important point to make in the work you publish?
That’s a good question. Technically the space between highbrow and lowbrow is middlebrow, and that’s boring.
I think what I meant was I’m looking for content that either oscillates wildly between highbrow and lowbrow, or exhibits an appreciation for both in equal measure. Sort of like how I’m just as likely to spend my spare time reading through the Booker Prize longlist as I am scrolling photo essays about celebrities with Ozempic Face. Or how I’ll generally ruin an otherwise scholarly conversation about AI and the Singularity with a well-timed fart.
That’s why the magazine is called Two Wolves Digest, named for that bogus “two wolves” fable. You can read about it here.
How has your approach to editing evolved since starting Two Wolves Digest? What key lessons have shaped your style?
Like I said earlier, I don’t identify as an editor, so I haven’t thought deeply about this before! Two Wolves Digest is three issues old, and for all of them I’ve edited intuitively.
This is not best editor practice. If TWD ever has itself an editing team, I’ll be a lot more profesh about it and roll out a style guide.
We’re lucky in Australia to have a number of smaller, indie platforms to connect with like-minded readers, writers and editors. What’s something you’d like people to know more about or perhaps keep in mind when submitting to or working with an editor like yourself at a smaller platform?
There’s very little money floating around, which is sad, but also incredibly freeing. Small- and micro-publishers can take risks on commercially un-viable work. And where there’s less emphasis on money there’s more emphasis on joy, community, and creative risk-taking. Those three things don’t pay the bills, obviously, but they’re still important to one’s survival.
I wish I could say “payment is meager because we’re a small platform”, or “the staff are time-poor because we’re a small platform.” But payment is meager and staff are time-poor at larger publications too, so … *shrug*
What advice would you give to aspiring writers about the importance of editing in the writing process?
Your first draft must be word vomit. Do not edit as you go. When you do go back to edit:
Big words are for special occasions (like, one every few paragraphs).
Watch out for dangling modifiers and/or subordinate clauses at the start of sentences (they’re bloody everywhere).
Ditto exclamation points.
Avoid long-ass sentences.
And lastly, what’s next for Two Wolves Digest? Are there any upcoming issues or themes you’re looking to explore that we can get our audience excited about?
I had to take a brief hiatus from TWD recently because I was working on an enormous project (directing RMIT’s Odyssey Literary Festival, which wrapped up on October 25). I plan on opening submissions again in December. I look forward to getting back into it.
I’ve also been threatening to publish a hardcopy “best of” anthology for a while. Hopefully that will happen within a year.
Alice Reid is a writer, artist and school librarian living on unceded Wurundjeri Land. Alice runs Two Wolves Digest, a humour(ish) literary magazine. When not Two Wolvsing or glaring at teenagers across the circulation desk, you might find Alice running through a daisy-spangled meadow whilst yapping about herself in the third person.
Elaine Chennatt is a writer, educator and psychology student currently residing in nipaluna. She has a special interest in bibliotherapy (how we use literature to make sense of our lives) and is endlessly curious about the creative philosophies of others. She lives with her husband and two bossy dachshunds on the not-so-sunny side of the river (IYKYK). Find her online at wordswithelaine.com.
