The Artist Currently Known As: Mel McDacy
Mel is the director, founder and editor of Journals of Love & Literature, an independent magazine profiling emergent and independent voices. Issue Two: Lel Aayleh ‘For the Family’ للعيلة just launched.
What are you studying? I’m studying English (major) and Sociology (minor).
What year are you in? I just went into third year.
Can you tell me what you like to make? I really like writing. I also love dancing, I feel like that’s how I express myself through my body.
You have a new issue of your literary journal coming out. What was your motivation in starting the journal? I used to study and work in fashion, and then I had a spiritual awakening that happened through reading. As I was progressing out of fashion and I had this identity crisis, I realised a magazine or a journal fuses all my interests together: art, fashion, as well as literature and writing. I realised I was surrounded by all these creative people and we could build a community together. And I feel like you really need that when you’re starting, because you need to ask for a lot of help.
How long have you been running your magazine? About a year and a half.
When it comes to picking submissions, do you have a theme in mind before you go and find pieces, or does the theme come after? The inspiration comes first. For this one the theme is ‘For the Family’, and it's in Arabic, so Lel Aayleh, which was sparked from my own experiences. I met up with my family in Canada and they were telling me all about my history, and they welcomed me with such open arms. It was really beautiful, because I'd never met them before.
When the theme is set, that’s when we do the call-out for submissions. I like it when people interpret the theme differently, but it’s quite obvious when people try and make a pre-existing work fit into the theme.
I’ve so done that before when it comes to call-outs, but the best work is usually when you’re actually making something authentic. But sometimes it fits! Sometimes people will already have a piece about their family. But sometimes people will stretch it so far.
The team around you, how did you find them? I put a call for internships out as I started [the magazine], just to give people experience if they wanted to move into publications. But some of the key organisers are my really close friends. That must be really fun. Yeah, which it is! It’s a lot easier because you can ask a lot of them at random times – it’s less formal. I feel like too if you have a disagreement, or a difference of opinion, it can be easier to pull them up on it. Yeah, and have a really open discussion. Sometimes when it’s professional it's uncomfortable, because you don’t really know how to just say it.
When we were taking [a creative writing class] together, I would always love seeing the different books you were reading, because they were so eclectic. I think one week you brought in Fourth Wing, and then it was like – Dostoyevsky! Yes! I love that, because I’m the same, I need such a mix of books. What are your reading tastes? I really like self-help books. The first book that got me into reading recently was Women Don’t Owe You Pretty, by Florence Given.Side-note: the best book I’ve ever read is Untamed by Glennon Doyle. It’s a self-help book written in the style of biography, and I’ve told so many people I know to read it, and every single one of them said it changed their life.
I find, being in a creative field, that I have a lot of thorny feelings of jealousy and competition with other people. Do you feel that? And how do you deal with those negative feelings? I definitely feel jealousy, and I think I feel like – defeated. I feel incapable. There’s obviously the, damn I wish I could write like that kind of jealousy, but also, what's the point of even trying. Whenever I hear or see something motivational, that really helps. And, everyone’s probably thinking the same thing.
The theme of your issue is ‘For the Family.’ How does community and family inform your work? It's everything. The more I grow and the older I get, the more I realise that it’s the most important thing, and if it wasn't for other people there would be no reason for what I’m doing. The reason why I created Love & Literature was for connection. Whenever I encountered someone who wasn't in that space, who was maybe more standoffish and egotistical, I just felt, like, you’re missing the whole point. I wanted to shake them.
I’m always inspired by the people around me, and the stage of life that I’m in is one where I’m learning from other people. My family in Canada showed me so much grace — they gave when they had no reason to give.
You can find Mel at @melmcdacy.