Hello readers, welcome back. We are still hard at work in the editor mines. We’re using our pick-axes on prose and poetry and art. We had a cave-in and are trying to get food and water to our editors trapped behind a large 1800 word rock…okay, this metaphor sucks. Sorry, now you know I really do write these off the cuff. Not that you’d have any reason to believe that I don’t. Anyways, the team is still hard at work on Issue No.10. I told the team I wanted to have our final selections AND layout done by the end of May. But May has been moving so fast, so now that goal seems really, really, really, stupid. Slow down, May! Seriously, stop it, May. It’s not funny anymore, everyone think’s you’re being weird, May. Why can’t you be a tedious drag like your hot brother, August?

Moving on, last week, Angel Neri and I went to Riverside, California. It’s probably not your first stop if you’re visiting California, unless you have family here, or believed it when some social media influencer told you that the Tyler Mall is a hidden gem filled with mysterious wonders. Spoiler alert, it is not! Unless you’re looking for a robust cruising spot, in which case the second floor Macy’s bathroom has you covered. Despite the very beige-ness, and surprisingly MAGA friendliness, of the region, I actually have a lot of love for the school both Angel and I attended there, Riverside City College. Seriously, you want to talk about gems? RCC is that.

MUSE is RCC’s literary journal, and the first place Angel and I got to work as student editors. Though I should note that we did not work at the same time. MUSE, was putting on a 3-day event called, Lit-Chella which seemed to be perfectly timed with our own ambitions. The team here had been talking about wanting to attend more events and get involved with our surrounding community. And this was a great first start, especially since a lot of events are not cheap or easy to attend. AWP in Chicago next year would seem cool for 2027, but that costs money…$600 specifically. Comparatively, tabling for 2 days at RCC cost me $15. And they were willing to go even lower than that since all 3 days would have cost only $20. Unfortunately, both Angel and I could only do 2 days because of capitalism. My vacation request to take the entire week off was denied because…well, lets not go there. Unrelated, I’m job hunting! Anyways, back to Lit-Chella!

The event itself was about what I expected. Pretty small scale with some excellent readers and panels. I knew the foot traffic for an event in the middle of May at a commuter school in the middle of the afternoon wouldn’t draw the biggest crowd. But we still got to meet some really awesome students and faculty during our time there. I also realized that I was woefully unprepared to talk about RABBLE REVIEW to people who had never heard of us. Which is funny because I talk about it all the time. I’m doing it right now. Luckily we had some really cool pins and stickers made, and we had copies of our sampler available for visitors to take. I printed a few on colorful paper and those went quick! People love colors, who knew?

I also never know how people will react to our politics. College campuses, especially in Southern California, aren’t exactly dens for conservatives, but political leanings that are anything past left of center are still not embraced with open arms. At least one person who visited our table seemed to be…put off, shall we say, by our “unapologetically leftist,” slant. But that’s fine! We love occupying this space as exactly that. And we’re sure there are plenty of right wing and center right publications that could use readers and contributors. We know the space is teeming with that type of thought. That was a joke.

Overall it was a fun time. The weather was REALLY nice, which was a relief since the day before it was 95 degrees Fahrenheit, which will always feel bad! I got to hang out with Angel in person, which is something that does not happen nearly as often as it should. We got to see old professors who we love, and talk to them about a thing they helped inspire us to create. Which, sidebar, if you have a teacher in your life, tell them you love them, because they are really the best.

RABBLE REVIEW will be turning five years old in September, and seeing the last five years of growth on our table was a thrill. To those of you just joining us, welcome! And to those of you who have been here since the early days, aka the searing orange, horrific website days, thank you for believing in our vision, and supporting us. We have a lot more growing to do, and a lot more readers to reach. And more gay communist propaganda to spread. Onward, comrades!

The, Work of the Week, is chosen at random every Friday and featured on the site for one week (or more if I forget to change it.) Be sure to check back to see which work is featured next: https://rabblereview.com/work-of-the-week

That’s all for now readers. Please enjoy this selfie I took with Angel Neri on Day-1 of Lit-Chella. We hope to have a significant update on the progress of RABBLE REVIEW No.10 soon, as well as some other events we’re hoping to attend later in the year. Who knows, we might even be hosting an event of our own very soon, so stay tuned. Once again, thank you for supporting us. Whether you were here since Issue No.1, or just joining, we appreciate the support. Please don’t forget to support the wonderful contributors we have been lucky enough to feature in our past nine issues.

We’ll see you soon or on our socials. We’re trying to be more active on Instagram…Twitter might be a lost cause. Until then, stay safe and look out for each other. Take care.