10 point 5 editors in quandary
Collective magazine faces changes
By ANN TRENEMAN
Of the Emerald
Several Eugene poets sit
around a small, crowded room in
various reclining poses. They all
examine a photograph which has
been submitted for the next issue
of 10 point 5, a Eugene fine arts
magazine.
“Well, I like it, do you?” they ask
each other until it is determined,
by vote that the photograph will be
included in the next issue of the
magazine. Discussion then turns
to who will proofread which poems
that night.
It is by democratic vote that the
10 point 5 magazine collective
makes all its decisions — whether
it be about a poem, a poetry read
ing or a major change in the
magazine
And it is in this manner the col
lective will soon vote on a major
change. That change wifi involve
whether they should quit publish
ing their own poetry in 10 point 5
and offer a $10 compensation for
all work selected to appear in the
magazine.
The collective’s members have
differing viewpoints. However, it
looks as if the final vote will be to
change their long-standing policy
of printing their own work.
“In the past, in every issue, it
was the same editors’ work over
and over again,” Karen Kramer, a
collective member, says. “We
want to change that."
That all-inclusive “we” includes
the 10 collective members who
edit, solicit money and donations,
layout, proofread, write grant ap
plications and distribute 10.5
under the name Oz Publications.
Other collective members
agree with Kramer, adding that
not publishing their own work —
publishing is a rare luxury for most
poets — will “force” them to send
their poems out to be published
“in the real world,” says Peter
Wallace, another collective
member.
But there area few collective
members who are skeptical of the
change.
“I’m not sure it will be good for
the magazine," Peter Jenson, a
local poet who has contributed his
time and energy to the magazine
since its birth three-and-a-half
years ago.
“We're really at a turning point,"
he adds. “In the past it (publish
ing) has been the only goodies
we’ve gotten.’’ 10 point 5
magazine is supported solely by
donations from local businesses,
advertising and grants. The col
lective members receive no pay.
Collective members are cur
rently not guaranteed their work
will be automatically published
because their poems are voted
upon.
“When we’re all sitting around
voting on poems and there's
someone's face sitting there ...
Well, there is some peer pres
sure,” Kramer says. Past critics
have said some of the editor’s
work was below par and should
not have been included in the
magazine.
Although this would be a major
change in the magazine, it would
by no means by the first. The orig
inal four editors of 10 point 5
were all previous members of
another collective, which collabo
rated to publish the Augur. The
Augur was a local alternate news
paper, which existed for five years
until opinions clashed about
whether the Augur should concen
trate on political journalism or fine
arts. The collective’s members
split up and followed their own in
clinations. Some members
founded 10 point 5 and others
turned to work on the Willamette
Valley Observer, a Eugene alter
native newspaper.
That split took place in late
1974, and the first 1975 issue of
10 point 5 was a 25-cent tabloid
printed on newsprint paper. Since
that time, the magazine has gone
through a variety of typefaces.
Today it is a hard-cover magazine
with a circulation of 1,000 to 1,500
copies per issue.
The magazine, which sells for
$1.25 with printing costs being $1
an issue, has been published
about three times a year and the
upcoming July issue will be the
seventh effort.
The July issue is devoted to
Oregon. It features poetry by
Northwest notables Ursula Le
Guin, Ken Babbs and Olga
Broumas.
One of the collective’s down
falls in the past has been that the
editors are primarily poets and not
graphic artists — the magazine
contains a fair amount of graphic
material.
“We call it our creative white
space problem,” Kramer says.
“But we haven’t got that graphic
arts’ eye.” That has changed also
since graphic artists contributed
their "eyes” during the last
magazine's layout process.
Other changes the collective
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considers is reducing the number
of editors, and paid positions. Oz
Publications would like to publish
some poetry books in the near fu
ture. The collective would also like
to present the community with
more poetry readings and film fes
tivals — like the upcoming Dutch
Film Tour the collective is spon
soring at the Open Gallery June
23 and 24.
A change that has already been
instigated is the formtion of com
mittees to divvy up the various
jobs.
“In the past we’ve shunned
committees, but it works more ef
ficiently,” Kramer says.
10 point 5 magazine is named
for the brain’s alpha wave where
dreams and creative thinking
originate. It is one of Eugene’s few
artists’ outlets; besides the
University’s fine arts magazine
Northwest Review, “I think we’re
the only consistent outlet,”
Kramer says.
And so the 10 point 5
collective’s members will soon
decide how and if their magazine
will change.
“It’s an interesting problem
we’re wrestling with,” Jenson
says, adding the change could re
sult in a loss of readers. “If you
occupy a place in people’s hearts,
minds and, not incidentally the
market, any change must be
looked at carefully.”
The outcome will not only de
termine the nature of the
magazine, but will affect the
collective's members as well, as
they start to think about contribut
ing poetry to other magazines and
face the inevitably possibility of re
jection slips.
“What’s it like being a poet in
Eugene?
“It’s probably better than being
a poet anyplace else—but it’s still
the shits," Kramer says, laughs
and adds, “The Excelsior (re
staurant) supports most of 10
point 5.”
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