Indie Editors Series: Svetlana Sterlin
“When writers give me positive feedback, it’s good to know I’ve had at least some small impact on their careers, and I feel lucky to have been trusted with their work. I love when writers I’ve edited stay in touch with me; that’s how communities grow.”
Our latest indie editor interview is with emerging writer, poet and editor Svetlana Sterlin, who founded swim meet lit mag during the pandemic to provide more approachable opportunities for emerging writers and creatives.
swim meet lit mag is a young online literary publication based in Meanjin (Brisbane, Australia). They accept all kinds of creative work and love to be surprised.
Swim meets bring people together; swim meet lit mag offers an accessible space to read and publish all kinds of creative work from around the world, with a particular focus on emerging local contributors.
Svetlana chatted with me all about her creative inspirations, the editing perspective and how you can get involved with this fantastic publication!
Let’s start with an obvious one - can you tell us a little more about you, your work and how you got started as an editor?
I guess I’ll start at the beginning. I was born in New Zealand into a Russian family, and before the age of four, I’d lived in five different countries. Growing up as an only child in an immigrant family (still constantly on the move even after we’d moved to Australia), I relied on books for escapism--and, I suppose, company. My parents encouraged my love for reading. Along with being bilingual, I think this is what helped me cruise through spelling, reading, and writing in primary school.
I guess I decided I would be a writer around the age of fourteen. By that point, I’d felt the encouragement of a few teachers to keep writing. I was taking Extension English at school, and I started writing more of my own stories (including a couple of--terrible--YA speculative fiction novels!) outside of the curriculum. Even in non-creative assignments, I’d try to put a creative spin on the task and add some kind of story or narrative voice to it.
I studied Creative and Professional Writing at university, where I was first exposed to formal editing. Honestly, I didn’t love those units, and I’d been dreading them because I wanted to focus on writing. Now, I would advise all writing students to take editing classes where possible because learning how to edit professionally is so important for your own writing!
I got started as an editor because of those university classes, which I applied to my own writing first, and then to my friends. In 2020, I was looking for work I could do from home during the pandemic, something related to creative writing. I decided I would try to get into editing, so I looked at the literary publications I love to read and found that Split Rock Review was looking for volunteer readers. My time with SRR was very valuable; I learned a lot, and I felt more qualified to start my own publication--swim meet lit mag.
Swim meet lit mag is such a fantastic addition to the Aussie lit scene, especially for emerging writers. What inspired you to start the mag and how did you come up with its name?
Thank you so much for saying that! That was my goal; to provide another platform, especially for emerging Australian writers, to get their work published.
During the lockdowns, I was looking for places to submit my own writing locally, and I realised the options were pretty limited. In 2021, I had poems published in Urinal Mag and Blue Bottle Journal, both of which are Brisbane-based indie publishers (do check them out!), but I wished there were more publications like this--approachable, run by emerging writers and editors, and free to submit to.
Getting published in these journals helped me see that it was possible to just do it, so I stopped putting off my dreams of one day starting my own journal, and I set up swim meet lit mag.
As to the name, I knew I wanted it to be related to swimming somehow; I grew up as a competitive swimmer, and it’s a world I want to bring more people into. I saw a parallel between swim meets (competitions) and the world of publishing. Swim meets bring people together, as do magazine issues, for instance. There is a competitiveness to getting published, but at the same time, I want swim meet to feel accessible and approachable.
Also, a bit selfishly, I want to attract stories and poems about swimming or by swimmers!
I know you’re also a wonderful writer and poet yourself, how has taking on an editing role helped to elevate your own work (if at all)?
Thank you for the compliment!
It certainly has helped to elevate my own work. I think the biggest change I’ve noticed is that I’m now able to step out of my own shoes and look at my writing from an objective perspective.
I know that this is difficult for many writers starting out (killing your darlings, knowing the deeper meaning and thoughts that go into every sentence or phrase), but it’s a useful skill to have if you’re looking to get your work published.
How do you view your role as an editor in supporting writers to further develop their own work? Have there been any key moments or editing highlights for you working with others?
For me, editing is a collaborative process. I’ve definitely been influenced by the team at Voiceworks, where I was lucky enough to be published three times and work with three fantastic editors. I’m now part of the Editorial Committee, and it’s such a safe community for young writers and editors. The communication between contributors and editors is very collaborative, respectful, and nurturing.
At swim meet, I aim to offer emerging writers one of their first experiences of being edited, and I want that experience to be as positive and encouraging as possible. I usually ask the writer questions rather than just give my opinion straight up because my opinion isn’t the be-all and end-all. My role as an editor is not just to clean up the mechanics of a piece but to help it shine; I feel responsible for seeing the author’s vision and bringing it to the surface.
When writers give me positive feedback, it’s good to know I’ve had at least some small impact on their careers, and I feel lucky to have been trusted with their work. I love when writers I’ve edited stay in touch with me; that’s how communities grow, and above all else, that’s what I wanted to create with swim meet lit mag.
My other editing highlights have been working with Voiceworks and The Suburban Review--both are magnificent publications with very clear visions and amazing work ethics (again, be sure to check them out!).
Who have been some of the biggest literary influences in your own career so far?
I always find these sorts of questions difficult to answer because the truth is, I’m influenced by whatever or whoever I’m reading at any given time.
Classics are a great source of inspiration for me, but I wouldn’t say my writing style emulates any classic authors. I also read a lot of poetry out of context (I’m subscribed to a few mailing lists that send out single poems by contemporary poets around the world), which is great for my poetry, but unfortunately, I often forget to flag the poets!
Recently, I’ve been inspired by Sarah Holland-Batt, Rae White, Sally Rooney, Alice Oseman, and Cormac McCarthy--but ask me in a month, and my answers will probably change!
As an editor who regularly receives submissions, what are some of the key things that you try to keep central when making decisions on what you select for publication?
I think of myself as quite an instinctual editor (and writer), so I definitely trust my gut, but I do have a few elements or criteria in mind when making selections. The first thing I notice when I open a submission is how it looks--is it neatly formatted, well-organised, and clean? If it’s a written piece, does the spelling, grammar, and punctuation look okay? I’m willing to look past minor mistakes and the occasional typo, but when my impression of a piece is that it’s messy or rushed, I’m going to be distracted by these mechanical flaws and less likely to understand what the piece is trying to say.
The second is to do with the theme. I always say that our themes are flexible, and I’m more interested in quality, but if something is wildly off-topic, it probably isn’t going to find a home in swim meet lit mag.
Next, there’s the bigger picture level, where I think about the issue as a whole. I try to line the most memorable pieces up with other high-ranking submissions for each issue; is there a common theme, tone, mood, or underlying discourse linking certain pieces?
Finally, and I think most importantly, does the piece move me? No matter how clean or on-theme something is, if it falls flat for me as a reader, I probably won’t believe in it enough to take it on. This is where the subjective element of our creative practice comes into play, but it’s also where I consider the audience.
And as a little bit of a follow on, what’s something you wish people did more (or perhaps less!) of during the submission/editing process?
Even though swim meet is a young journal, I wish people would read more of what we’ve published. When looking at submissions, it’s always pretty clear when someone has taken the time to explore our catalogue (and check submission guidelines)--and when someone hasn’t.
I wish people would be more open with their thoughts; I love getting into a dialogue with writers about their pieces. Editing and literature generally don’t have to be so cold and formal!
Do you have three key tips you would share for those thinking about submitting to swim meet lit mag?
In addition to reading our previous issues and checking that your submission meets our guidelines:
Read as much as possible across various forms and genres. Reading inspires, but on a more practical level, it helps to determine the good from the not-so-good, even when it comes to things like punctuation and formatting.
Try editing other people’s work before going in to proofread or revise your own. It could be a friend’s or even something pulled from the Internet.
If you’re going to write a cover letter, please spell my name correctly :) You can even copy and paste it from the submissions page. On a more serious note, I think cover letters are great, but I’m not really interested in finding out how experienced a submitter is from a list of their prior publications. I just want to see that submitters have read the guidelines and know what kind of publication they’re submitting to. Cover letters are optional at swim meet lit mag, but if you decide to include one, it should be addressed to me, and it doesn’t have to be formal. I love reading fun tidbits about submitted pieces or the obscure ways in which someone has responded to the theme.
And lastly, what’s next for you as a writing professional and what do you have planned for Swim Meet Lit Mag this year?
2023 is shaping up to be a very exciting year for me as a writer and editor! I’ve just started a Fishbowl Residency with Queensland Writers Centre to work on a feature screenplay, and I’m also working on a number of literary projects--stay tuned.
I’m currently reading for the fourth issue of swim meet lit mag, and I’m hoping that its publication will align with our involvement in a literary event in the first half of the year. This is the first major event swim meet lit mag has been a part of, and I can’t wait for people to hear about it and come along. The local literary community is very tight-knit and incredibly supportive. And, of course, it’s always such a pleasure meeting contributors in person!
I’m also looking to play around with the mag’s format, so keep an eye out for our next issue, FLIP.
Svetlana Sterlin is based in Meanjin, where she edits with Voiceworks and writes prose, poetry, and screenplays. Her writing has recently appeared in Antithesis, takahē, Meanjin, Cordite, Slinkies 2022 (Spineless Wonders), and elsewhere. A swimming coach and former swimmer, she's also the founding editor of swim meet lit mag. More from Svetlana: https://linktr.ee/svetlanasterlin
Elaine Mead is a freelance writer and book reviewer, currently residing in nipaluna (Hobart), Tasmania. She is passionate about the ways we can use literature to learn from our experiences to become more authentic versions of ourselves and obsessed with showing you photos of her Dachshund puppy. You can find her online under www.wordswithelaine.com.
