Introducing Our New “Memorable B-Sides” Series
Welcome to the flip side of The York Review.
Recently we sent out rejection and acceptance emails to those who had the courage to submit to the 25th anniversary volume of this literary magazine. Our staff is composed of nine students, each with a unique background, standpoint, and set of loves and passions. It is an extreme privilege to be able to read and view such amazing work, although we cannot accept everything. There are certain pieces — poems, photos, paintings, and more — that we would nevertheless like to showcase in some way. The website seemed like the best platform.
“I love my rejection slips. They show me I try,” wrote Sylvia Plath. So often rejection brings shame and disappointment — but it most certainly shouldn’t. This is a series about love and vulnerability and visibility — not rejection, at the end of the day, although it’s true that a certain sort of love arises when you look at art that’s gone through something, that’s been judged, that still sits there existing proudly, regardless of anyone’s, even the artist’s, opinion.
For each work forthcoming in print, there is one lingering in our submissions folder, riveting in its own right. So the task now is to release the “b-sides,” one by one. We will include an introduction by one of our editors with every featured piece — why they love it, and why they think you might, too. As discussed in our “Love is to Return to Something” article, inspired by the second episode of The Rough Draft podcast, we, out of genuine passion, make the choice to circle back, to look and listen and smell and touch and taste more than just once. (And, fittingly, podcast producer Artemis Harris ended up coming up with the name of this web series!)
One of my favorite Beatles songs is “Revolution.” Written by John Lennon and released in 1968, it is the flip to Paul McCartney’s “Hey Jude.” To this day, the message warning us against violence, even for the sake of protest, resonates. Needless to say, it’s crazy to think that some people might have appreciated only the a-side. This goes for countless songs across time and genres, from “Fire of Unknown Origin” by Patti Smith to “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse. Not to digress — I mean to emphasize that there’s always another side to the story. TYR is eager to bring it to light, rejection slips aside.