MagBog #4: the engine(idling
Intimate, passionate, ferocious, and undeniably gorgeous, the engine(idling is home to some of the best anthologies of poetry I've ever read. I am so grateful to have been included in their selection!
Welcome to the first Monday MagBog! Here is a magazine which absolutely deserves all kinds of features.
What can I even say about the engine(idling that the magazine won’t say for itself? What can I say about it that could describe everything it is, without missing something? The truth is, I don’t think I can.
Despite its name, e(i is anything but idle. the engine(idling is the Big Bang; it’s 10,000,000 Scovilles, the plumpest fruit, it’s stars and ichor. It’s Artemis, it’s mother, it’s your lipsticked-Demeter.
It’s religiously warm. It’s every flower. It’s every element. It’s Ophelia’s vengeance. It’s grizzly-mama feminine and peacock-feather masculine, everything in between and everything that isn’t. Gender. War. Peace. A fantasy wyrd and the most real and solid street. Flesh. A hot, wet deluge. Death, rebirth, afterbirth. Magic in the everyday. And something completely, utterly extraordinary. Take your pick — the engine(idling will have it.
the engine(idling lusts after “the crafty / the restless / the difficult personalities of this world.” Now, if there’s anything e(i has always had, and could never lack, it’s restlessness. Passion, and fire, and spice. This is not the place for pretty pictures with nothing to say — you had best immolate yourself through your work, and you better have something to prove. Speak. Shout. Squall. Shriek your head off. the engine(idling will eat anything and likes all of it hot and sharp. Make it hurt real good, like rolling acid out your muscles.
e(i has an beautifully eclectic collection, from Issue 1: Wild Abandon, to Issue 4: Haunts & Hometowns, to Issue 6: yarn. I would say that, so far, e(i has the best selection of poetry I’ve had the pleasure to read. Like Viridine, all of e(i’s themes are so unique, so well-loved, deeply thought, perfectly curated. Every contributor brings full meals. All of it buzzes in your stomach and crools between your ears. I can’t even name a favorite poem — I read through all seven issues before submitting to Collage, and there were so, so many incredible pieces.
I mixed a soup of two skins in my stomach and for months it spun, churning the formula for fingernails and teeth, waiting to land labial side out as a fully formed chunk of meat.
—Jacqueline Rosado, “In The Universe Where I Chose [You]” (Issue 7)
Francis de Lima’s “97 Ways to Say Apocalypse” (Issue 4); Kathryn Reese’s “Hermit Crab Poem for the InstaSpiritual” (Issue 6); Christina Polge’s “legs extended” (Issue 6); Suze Kay’s “Love and Death in the Flower Shop” (Issue 6); Eleanor Graydon’s “Deadname” (Issue 8); the list soars on. the engine(idling would never accept boring. It’s a bouquet of absolute energy, a newborn criticality.
One of the things I appreciate most about e(i is that, despite being a relatively small publication, it is community-forward and puts forth tremendous effort in that regard. It would be easy enough to collect works, spit them out into the world, and do nothing else — but, like its collection, the engine(idling does not live in unmoving static. It has a diverse (and high-quality!) shop, detailed contributors’ pages, a tiny publishing press, and even award nominations for other lit mags. e(i’s dedication to literature does not stop at itself; you and those around you will always be included. e(i is welcoming and nurturing in a way few literary communities manage to be.
e(i does an incredible amount with a small amount of space, and an even smaller masthead. The entire operation is run solely by Danielle McMahon, who is not only a wonderful editor, but an absolutely lovely individual. Every communication I’ve had with her has been so pleasant, and her care and passion for the lit scene is evident in everything she does; you can see it all over e(i. Many lit mags struggle to keep up with the rest of the world, and that isn’t a problem for e(i. Danielle knows what her community wants, and she’s good at getting us to engage.
the engine(idling is fervent, yes — loving, for sure — open-minded, absolutely — but one word which describes e(i quite well is fashionable. I don’t even need to say anything — just look at it. Look at their Bluesky. e(i has an impeccable sense of design. The whole publication is stunning, poetry aside, even — I can’t say enough good things about it.
I think it was perfectly timed, stars aligned, that I found this magazine during its Collage submission call. The concept of collage embodies so much of what e(i is, what makes it so incredible; visually and textually, it is a conglomerate of the most beautiful, varicolored kind, a salmagundi, a sweet-and-sour soup. A motley of all types of souls, from all walks of life, united by their hard-worked talent. A sundry heaven.
A chorused protest.
the engine(idling kicks me in the organs. Every poem is a heart that sighs and swells into another. This magazine is nuclear. It sings gospel. It sparks fire beneath your heels. There is so much I could say about it, and it would never be enough to describe how much I love it. Unlike those of its poets, my words simply fail.
Thank you so, so, so much for letting me be part of it.
Design: Colorful, energetic and stylized — highly developed. Danielle has really polished the site. Kind of mod, kind of retro, very imagistic. For the girls. Collage and mash-up abound. Reminds me of a more pastel New Orleans. A bit of edgy BookTok-ness
but in a good way.Lots of teal and pink. There’s a great eye for cool-girl design all throughout, and that’s evident not only on the site, but on their Bluesky and promotional material as well!Vibe: the engine(idling is femme first — because what is more difficult than femininity? — but they’re everything else, and they pull it off incredibly. They’re a bhut jolokia. A broken mirror reflecting you even prettier. A rifle decorated with your daughter’s girl scout stickers. Rotting roses, mycelia, mold. Snapped kindling. Dogwood. Eating a wedding cake with your fingers. Scorched sidewalks after a fire. Scarlet lingerie on your lover. Cheetah print on black panties. Superviruses. A rainbow reflected in dew and fog. Cats that know more than they let on, and their unsheathed claws. All kinds of whips. A white mink, and its freshly-caught fish.
Types of Work: Poetry only!
Editors: Danielle McMahon (EIC).
Submission Fee: $0!
Cost to Read: Free online! Print editions currently range from $8-$22 USD.
Three the engine(idling Themed Songs From My Playlist
“Washing Machine Heart” - Mitski
“Meet Me in the City” - Lord Huron
“Swan Upon Leda” - Hozier
Check out my post about my featured piece, “Someday I’ll Be Eaten by a Passerine!”
