the sine qua non is a scholarly AND creative journal.
We publish
poetry
creative prose
&
scholarly works about the theory and practice of creative writing.
OUR VALUES
What differentiates us from other journals is one foundational philosophical principle:
we believe that the proper object of literary theory is the author and their text.
We believe the act of creation is unique, special, privileged, and merits study.
We believe that something magical happens the moment an author decides
a text is complete and abandons it to the world—an act of creation occurs,
and in that one moment, the text closes.
We believe that it is the reader who is in flux, ever-changing, mysterious, unknowable, and open.
We believe that excessive focus by literary scholars on the reader and the text at the expense of the author is misguided and has resulted in a neglect of the study of the creative process.
OUR MISSION
Our goal is to publish amazing creative works
AND
to foment research focusing on literary creation that
respects the author and their creative process as well as the product.
We are called the sine qua non because
the author is the sine qua non —
that without which literature would not exist.