A Pause in Solicitations

Eight (!) years into publishing smart, creative pieces about rhetoric, Harlot will be taking some time to reflect on and learn from those experiences. Stand by for more conversation about forthcoming changes in and after our spring issue.

For now, please note (and tell your friends) that Harlot will only be accepting new submissions–and any outstanding revisions–until January 15, for possible publication in the April 2016 issue. If you’ve been holding onto anything you think belongs in Harlot, please pass it along for review! And as always, please get in touch if you want to chat. Thanks!

Issue 12

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Harlot’s 12th issue is published today!

Issue 12

Issue 12

Read the awesome works of Lindsey Harding, Mary Hedengren, Lisa Lebduska, Kathleen Ann Livingston, Lauren Murray, and KT Torrey. Learn about trigger warnings, emojis, Misha Collins as Overlord, beer, the effects of Pinterest on moms, and zombies. Zombies!

Also, check in to see who won the #definerhetoric 2014 competition and get your submissions ready for the next special issue on craft rhetorics! Exciting times, folks. Winning!

But Then I Found Harlot

As someone interested in rhetoric, new media, and in joining a digital publishing community, I’ve spent the last few years eye-balling various online journals.  I’ve anxiously watched as a number of journals released shout-outs for editorial assistants, reviewers, or editors, but never found myself getting excited enough about any particular journal to send in that familiar “Hello, I’m interested in working for your awesome journal” query.

But then I found Harlot.

I began following the journal in the summer of 2012 when one of my much-admired professors, Kristin Arola, published an award-winning video in the journal.  After watching the video and reading various other pieces, I thought “Wow, this journal is doing some cool stuff.”

My interest in Harlot continued to grow as I encountered creative multi-media pieces like Abigail Lambke’s “The Oral Aural Walter Ong,” quirky sci-fi analyses like Rita Malenczyk’s  “Scully and Me: Or, The X-Files, Revisited” and big-statement pieces like Elizabeth Kuechenmeister’s “‘I Had an Abortion’”: A Feminist Analysis of the Abortion Debate.”  These works, along with my growing admiration for the journal editors’ dedication to publishing articles that don’t fit tidily into traditional academic venues, led me from simply reading Harlot to wanting to join the staff.  At last I was ready to send in that long overdue email inquiry.

Luckily for me, the Harlot crew responded to my query with a generous “welcome aboard!” and I’m now working on cool social media projects with folks like Paul Mulhuaser and Kaitlin Dyer.  Over the next year, we hope to expand the journal’s social media presence as well as craft and curate educational materials for teachers.  Working on these projects, as well as getting to know both the Harlot editors and contributors, is an exciting process and already titillating my inner rhetor-teacher-tech-nerd.

*****

Lori Beth De Hertogh is a Ph.D. student in the Rhetoric and Composition program at Washington State University.

 

Play #DefineRhetoric & win pounds of prestige

Rhetors, Technorhetors, Rhetotechnos, and Compositionists,

It’s that time again.  Our Define Rhetoric competition has begun. Help us add to the almost three million different definitions of rhetoric we’ve found. Help us flavor the world with new perspectives on what rhetoric is, isn’t, and does, doesn’t. Come up with THE best definition of rhetoric for 2013 and you’ll win a sweet trophy, a gift certificate to Amazon.com, and, well, between 10-20 pounds of prestige.

To play:

  1. You’ve gotta tweet. If you don’t have a Twitter account, ya gotta make one.
  2. Tweet your brand new definition of rhetoric, your tweaked or remixed definition of rhetoric, one you’ve liked from a theorist, or even a visual or audio definition. You can play or define as many times as ya’d like.
  3. Put the hashtag #DefineRhetoric somewhere in your definition because we find the definitions using that hashtag.
  4. DUE DATE– September 15th 2013.

We encourage you to have fun and play with what rhetoric can mean. Be your own Plato, Aristotle, Aspasia. Be your own Burke, Richards, Perelman. Be your own Villanueva, Glenn, Lanham. And in the spirit of givin’ cred where cred is due, we ask you to try to cite your sources as best ya can when ya tweak or remix or quote a definition.

Here are a few we’ve gotten so far.  Check out how last year’s champ @RhetRock is already defending his title:

  • #definerhetoric Rhetoric is how your persuade yourself that you can get ONE MORE DAY out of that empty tube of toothpaste.
    by @RhetRock

And, if ya getta chance, follow us on Twitter (@HarlotTweets) for competition updates and tweets that will make your wildest dreams come true!

Good luck and good rhetoricking!

Sweet Trophy!
Sweet trophy
#DefineRhetoric Champion 2012
Rhetoric is a bag of Halloween candy, sometimes you get the good stuff and sometimes you get apples with razor blades.
by @TheOriginalRock (now @RhetRock)

#DefineRhetoric Competition Update 2.0

We’ve passed our second month of defining rhetoric in 140 characters or less. Rhetoric’s been defined, re-defined, pre-defined, post-defined, most-defined, more-defined, and less-defined. It’s been a whole lotta defined. It’s an activity, clothing, and like milk.  It’s a pun and  a mirror and a niece! It’s even in orbit.

Before you go back to defining, enjoy some of the latest definitions we’ve gotten:

  • Rhetoric is how you hope to talk your way out of a traffic ticket…HOPE. #DefineRhetoric @TheOriginalRock
  • Rhetoric is like the moon. It is, at present, synchronously oriented to the rotation of another body around which it orbits. #DefineRhetoric @Schmeggelz
  • Rhetoric is discourse in lingerie. #definerhetoric @soundb0mb3r
  • Someone left me a voicemail of just some really impressive coughing. #definerhetoric @donorahillard
  • Rhetoric is when “my style’s like a chemical spill/Feasible Rhymes you can vision and feel/conducted in form… V. Ice #definerhetoric @HarlotTweets
  • Rhetoric is a pun on causality. #definerhetoric @postsilence
  • Rhetoric is a selection and deflection of reality. (Inspired by Burke.) #definerhetoric @cdmandrews
  • “Listen to me!” says my niece while holding my face in her hands. #definerhetoric @denisejeannee

There’re 2 ½ months left to #definerhetoric!  Keep on definin’ and cure the rhetorical hangover a summer can give ya by tweeting a #definerhetoric.

Much thanks and great work to all those participatin’ in #definerhetoric!

If you’re interested in #DefineRhetoric, you’ll find instructions here: #DefineRhetoric

Competition Update: #DefineRhetoric @HarlotTweets

It’s been one month since we began our #DefineRhetoric competition!  We’re happy to say that we have added some funny, insightful, and outstanding examples of rhetoric defining rhetoric!  We’ve got rhetoric about rhetoric that’s rhetoric (via @plcorbett!). Whoa! If you haven’t checked out the competition, you’ll find instructions here: #DefineRhetoric

And we thank all our participants so far and hope they continue submittin’ cause there’s no limit on the number of definitions you can submit. Check ‘em out then laugh, cry, and rhetoric all over everywhere and write your own definition of rhetoric so ya increase your chances of winning the prestigious and highly coveted “Definition of Rhetoric of the Year – 2012.”

Here’re a few definitions we’ve received so far-

  • The Borg had it all wrong.  Resistance is rhetoric. @LouFisto
  • Rhetoric: Don’t get it wet or feed it after midnight. @LouFisto
  • Rhetoric = Wearing too much eyeliner after he leaves you. @donorahillard
  • Rhetoric = Any almost-expired birthday cake. @donorahillard
  • Rhetoric is a fancy label for the process and consequences of naming and framing reality. @anokaydane
  • #DefineRhetoric is an act of rhetoric itself, defined through action. Rhetoric outside of action is like Latin, dead on arrival. @plcorbett
  • Rhetoric is when everybody wants some and I want some too. Ow! V. H. Alen  @PaulMuhlhauser
  • Rhetoric is a bag of Halloween candy, sometimes you get the good stuff and sometimes you get apples with razor blades. @TheOriginalRock
  • The role of rhetoric is convincing people of the truth so they can dismiss their ignorance. #DefineRhetoric @TheOriginalRock
  • #definerhetoric: utterly the bass line in Lou Reed’s “Walk On the Wild Side.” Tonight anyway @thatssomcginnis

There are about 3 ½ months to submit your definition of rhetoric to Harlot. Then we’ll select and announce THE definition of rhetoric of the year with the publishing of our next issue.

If you’ve got some rhetorical inflammation and need relief, we prescribe #DefineRhetoric. Good luck!

Calling for Harlot reviewers!

Help wanted.

Help wanted, by Thewmatt

Harlot wants you!

Now in its third year of publication, Harlot is looking to expand its consortium — a group of reviewers who work hard to make sure all published submissions are smart, fun, provocative, and a good fit for Harlot. Harlot is open to all people who are interested in acts of persuasion, and we are currently most in need of individuals outside academia.

Reviewing is easy. Just as we ask creators to mind five particular goals in mind, we ask reviewers to answer the same questions in their responses:

1. Success: Is the piece appropriate for Harlot? Does it achieve its goals/potentials? Is the production quality high?
2. Significance: Are the ideas relevant, interesting, and provocative to broad audiences?
3. Accessibility: Is the piece welcoming and appealing to audiences’ varying reading abilities and assistive technologies?
4. Personality: Does the piece exhibit wit, charm, humor?
5. Ethics: Is the work respectful and inclusive of diverse individuals and communities? Does it abide by legal and moral codes of copyright and fair use?

 

 

If you’re interested in joining, please visit Harlot’s registration page, click the box next to “Reviewer,” and enter your interests. And then tell your friends!

Begging burro.

Begging burro, by Gottolson

 

We want you.

 

 

Issue #5 is Alive!

Happy fall from your friends at Harlot. We’ve got some treats for you: A Katrina survivor delves into stories that reveal more than just memories of a New Orleans’ past; a student produces a coming out performance through her writing; a photo lover questions whether the love is for the photo or the emotion it consistently conjures; relationships of adulthood are pondered by a movie-goer through the lens of Up in the Air; and sexuality is expressed in a pair of suspenders.

Intrigued? Excellent. Don’t forget to post your thoughts in response—just hit “Add Comment” to keep the conversation going!

We’re currently accepting submissions for our spring 2011 special issue, focused around the theme of family rhetoric. The deadline isn’t until January 15th, so you’ve got plenty of time to ponder why your brother flushed your favorite toy down the toilet when you were 6… how your parents managed to convince you to sit for that sibling portrait in the 80s… or what strategies you rely on to survive the holiday onslaught of aunts. You figured out early on to ask Dad for certain things and Mom for others–how did you know to do that? What were the differences between those approaches?

For more ideas, check out the full call on the announcements page, where you can also see some highly embarrassing shots of yours truly. As always, feel free to shoot us a line to chat about your inspirations, hesitations, or just to say howdy!

And of course, don’t forget that we accept pieces for consideration throughout the year. We’ve got reviewers standing by to help you polish that rant or sharpen that observation into the next Harlot masterpiece.

Speaking of: We want to extend a hearty congrats to contributor and blogger Ben McCorkle on being awarded Computers and Composition’s Michelle Kendrick Outstanding Digital Production/Scholarship Award for his “The Annotated Obama Poster,” which appeared in Harlot‘s second issue. Honored for its intellectual and creative awesomeness, McCorkle’s piece exemplifies the smart, accessible rhetorical criticism Harlot was designed to share.

In other news, we’re delighted to announce our shiny new ISSN: 2156-924X. Yup, that means the Library of Congress now has a listing for a journal named Harlot. And so does the Modern Language Association (MLA) Directory of Periodicals! Sa-weet.

And finally, we’re partnering with some design peeps to develop a new, more inviting look for Harlot. Of course, we’d like you to have a say in that re-vision… so let us know what you’d like to see!