Issue No. 1:
The Victoria Era
The Victoria Era
“If, with the literate,
I am Impelled to try an epigram,
I never seek to take the credit;
We all assume that Oscar said it.”
—Dorothy Parker, 1928
Breakfast on Pluto
C. Bougie
It’s been a long few months, I think—autumn is, for some, beginning a new school and, for others, applying to new ones—for still others, the season is a beginning of a different sort. And these things can all be stressful as hell, as nice as they can be on occasion. I started putting together Wilde Boy on a whim in August that I can barely remember now in November; it seemed, at the time, like a pretty thing to do, and, since then, I’ve run through a good number of stressful days trying to balance out surviving my senior year of university, applying to graduate school, and organizing issue one. At one point, even, one of my professors became, for an hour, my therapist; she prescribed me Keats’ letters and “Ode on Melancholy.” Suffice to say, it’s been a wild several months--
but it is 11:11pm, now, as I write this ending note. A time for wishes. Things are still stressful, and still messy, but this minute, maybe, could be a moment of peace. It is my hope that this first issue of Wilde Boy provides for you such a moment—have your 11:11. Recall that we have all happened before.
The art in this issue is inspired by Poe and Dickens, the Brownings and Yeats, and I couldn’t be prouder of it. It’s been my hope, in putting together this issue, to encourage readers and contributors both to see the Victorian Era as more than a mere isolated period of history—its influence continues to lay hands on art produced today.
It’s also been my hope to advance the notion that the Victorian Era was not merely occupied by the British, the rich, the white: its inhabitants were diverse, as are the artists represented in this issue. And they were—are—important. Their art is beautiful.
It is 2:30 now, and my window is dark, and I hope that this reading finds you well. Love to everyone who contributed to, supported, and is currently finding solace in this collection of works.
but it is 11:11pm, now, as I write this ending note. A time for wishes. Things are still stressful, and still messy, but this minute, maybe, could be a moment of peace. It is my hope that this first issue of Wilde Boy provides for you such a moment—have your 11:11. Recall that we have all happened before.
The art in this issue is inspired by Poe and Dickens, the Brownings and Yeats, and I couldn’t be prouder of it. It’s been my hope, in putting together this issue, to encourage readers and contributors both to see the Victorian Era as more than a mere isolated period of history—its influence continues to lay hands on art produced today.
It’s also been my hope to advance the notion that the Victorian Era was not merely occupied by the British, the rich, the white: its inhabitants were diverse, as are the artists represented in this issue. And they were—are—important. Their art is beautiful.
It is 2:30 now, and my window is dark, and I hope that this reading finds you well. Love to everyone who contributed to, supported, and is currently finding solace in this collection of works.
Poetry: "Boy" / Erin Emily Anne Vance, “Beyond this moment” / Gervanna Stephens, “The God’s Truth” / Katie Manning, “Burned” / Anne Leigh Parrish, "III" / EK, “Queerly, Yours” / Afieya Kipp, "Delusions of Grandeur" / Harley Claes, “Yeats, On Being Asked the Order of Senses He Would Sacrifice for His Beloved” / Paul Potter
Prose: “The Lost Future Predictive Correspondence of Edgar Allen Poe, Oscar Wilde, and Charles Dickens” / Michael Prihoda
Essays: "The Savagery of Peter Pan" / Lauren Gargiulo
Interviews: Harley Claes, Katie Manning
Art: "Proserpine's Offering" and "Pre-Raphaelite Woman" / Jasmine Knobloch
Prose: “The Lost Future Predictive Correspondence of Edgar Allen Poe, Oscar Wilde, and Charles Dickens” / Michael Prihoda
Essays: "The Savagery of Peter Pan" / Lauren Gargiulo
Interviews: Harley Claes, Katie Manning
Art: "Proserpine's Offering" and "Pre-Raphaelite Woman" / Jasmine Knobloch
Download the issue here!
