Inside IR: Meet Web Editor Doug Paul Case

If you’re reading this blog post, there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with one of the most entertaining, informative, and energetic “voices” of Indiana Review. After only a few months as our Web Editor, Doug Paul Case has increased and diversified our online presence, as well as our readership, one hundred fold. Whether he’s tweeting, facebooking, updating our blog, adding audio recordings to our very own Bluecast, or making content from the IR archives available online, Doug Paul Case is doing it with enthusiasm and extravagance. Here’s a few things he has to share with us today.

Read more after the jump!

Doug Paul Case

JL: What is the last piece of writing that knocked the wind out of you?

DPC: I just finished Stephen Motika’s debut poetry collection, Western Practice. It’s a phenomenal meditation on the Californian way of life, and I love the work he’s doing with the space on the page, the field. One of the shorter poems, “sun in,” just absolutely punched me in the gut. I’ve read it probably thirty times in the last few days. I’m terrible at memorizing poems, but I’m considering it.

JL: What do you look for a good piece of writing to do?

DPC: A good piece of writing will make me believe in the god that writer has constructed, make my heart tick artificially, make my bedroom glow orange.

JL: What are some of your favorite literary journals (besides IR, of course)?

DPC: Salt Hill. Ninth Letter. Memorious. Juked. Pank. Ploughshares. Elimae. Ilk. Nano Fiction. One Story. Safety Pin Review. And so on.

JL: What is your favorite thing about being an editor (so far)?

DPC: I have a legitimate excuse to use Twitter when I have other things I ‘should’ be doing. There are so many interesting people online, so many conversations to be had, so many things to learn. I’d do this all day if they paid me.

JL: What is the most challenging thing about being an editor (so far)?

DPC: Figuring out what’s okay for me to say on Twitter. If I didn’t turn down my natural snark I’d probably be offending everyone, which is no good. I’m also having trouble figuring out how to start our feud with Sycamore Review. Because we’re so much better than they are…is that enough to get going?

JL: Why are graduate student-run journals legit?

DPC: I have yet to hear a convincing argument otherwise. Mostly the people I’ve heard complaining about such things are unpublished writers who don’t know that a majority of the literary journals in the country are either run entirely by graduate students or have student readers on staff. The system would collapse if we weren’t doing this work. And yes, we know what’s good.

JL: Who are some of your favorite established writers?

DPC: Carl Phillips. C.E. Morgan. Marilynne Robinson. Maurice Manning. Jericho Brown. Sharon Olds. Marie Howe. D.A. Powell. Matthea Harvey. Michael Dickman.

JL: Who are your favorite up-and-coming writers?

DPC: Eric Weinstein. Alex Dimitrov. Marcus Wicker. David Lawrence Morse. Jac Jemc. Brandi Wells. Saeed Jones. xTx.

JL: If your life had a theme song, what do you think it would be (and why)?

DPC: Well, it wouldn’t be the theme song to Doug. That joke got old in middle school, guys.

JL: What is on your reading wishlist right now?

DPC: Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles. Tao Lin’s Richard Yates. Bruce Snider’s Paradise, Indiana. But I’m spending most of my time wondering why Roxane Gay doesn’t have a novel or full story collection yet. HEY, PUBLISHERS!

JL: Would you rather have a missing finger or an extra toe?

DPC: Missing finger. Absolutely. I’m pretty obsessed with sneakers, and having to order special, accommodating footwear is something I’m just not patient enough to do. Plus I can’t think of a better conversation starter than having a missing finger. “Hey. Want to hear where I lost this?”

This is the latest installment of Inside IR, a series of interviews with the good people here at Indiana Review. Visit us again in two weeks to learn a little more about our wonderfully Ron Swanson-esque fiction editor Joe Hiland has to say about government, bacon, and literature.