Brian Wilkins is the editor of Scarab: a literary magazine for the iPhone. He is a graduate of the MFA program at the University of New Hampshire. His work can be found or is forthcoming in Two Review and Permafrost, Pure Francis, and Sententia.

R&T:  Brian, how did the idea of pairing a literary magazine with the iPhone come about?

Wilkins:  Through the threat of looming unemployment. I was finishing my MFA at UNH and my partner (and Scarab’s resident technical genius) Ian Terrell was in between projects. We were roommates at William and Mary and had always wanted to collaborate on a creative project that utilized both our skills—of course, when those skills are poetry and computer science the opportunities are few and far between. We originally pitched around the idea of a web-based journal but became more and more enamored with what the iPhone offered:  the ability to mix together media in an application that was portable, slick, and felt (because of the tactile element) like the natural extension of the print magazine.

R&T:  Do you think this pairing represents part of a larger shift in the literary world from print to digital media?

Wilkins:  I think that shift is inevitable for certain media:  newspapers, magazines, even paperbacks. As the cost of producing a physical product for what are essentially disposable commodities goes up, it’s going to be increasingly attractive to move these items to digital formats. We’re at an odd point in the process, though, where not everyone has the capacity to view the new media; things are still in flux. What we want from Scarab is to stake out some ground; we want anyone who comes after us to take our values, the primacy of the voice conveyed both in sound and writing, into consideration.

This is not a new process. We still live in Gutenberg’s world and probably will until we can transmit ideas directly to each other’s minds or something equally far-fetched. All that’s changed really is paper. People shouldn’t worry about the disappearance of the book, though. The book is a part of us now:  just because there are quicker ways to make wine doesn’t mean people stop aging it in oak barrels.

R&T:  I agree. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. Can you tell us the significance of the name Scarab?

Wilkins:  We went through a lot of names; we wanted something short, without any literary nonsense gunking the gears. The Egyptians associated the scarab with the dawn and believed it was born of itself, emerging out of the dung. While I don’t want to imply anything about past literary magazines, Ian and I were both fond of the idea of something reborn but rooted in tradition. It was sealed when a friend of mine, without knowing anything about this process, gave me a scarab necklace as a graduation gift. I figured that was sufficiently serendipitous.

R&T:  What do you look for in the works you decide to feature? Is there a particular focus on poetry versus prose, vice versa?

Wilkins:  We do tend to focus a bit more on poetry as it suits the medium a little better. But I love good short prose, so we try to slip in a short story or a couple essays per issue.

As for the first question, I sort of hate answering it. Any definition of “what I want” inevitably excludes the possibility of being surprised by new work. Generally, though, I want works that are pleasurable to hear and stand up to further scrutiny in the text. I think of literature like a good meal:  overwhelming at the table and something you can’t wait to sneak down and scrounge out of the fridge in middle of the night. If your piece does that, I’ll publish it. If people want anything less metaphorical just read the magazine. I like all of that.

R&T:  That’s a great analogy. What do you feel having audio capability adds to the reader’s experience of the work?

Wilkins:  Ian wanted to know, right at the beginning, what we could do with the iPhone that was missing from a print literary magazine. There are probably other answers, but to me the first had to be restoring the voice to the text. The written word, as fantastic a solution to the problem of “How do we talk over time and distance” is, is merely a substitution for the sound of language. Of course, what we have is a chance to collapse the binary between reading a poem and the performance of it. History does us a favor:  because this all started at an oral art that moved into a written form, when we combine them into one medium you don’t lose either pleasure but gain both. You gain immediate access to the music and tone intended by the author as well as the ability to ponder all the implications of a text.

R&T:  What has the feedback been like since you debuted in October?

Wilkins:  Generally positive, particularly after Apple allowed us to offer the application (along with sample work) for free and charge only for the issues. We received good reviews on Wired.com and various blogs—even a couple in the Netherlands and Norway, which is fun. People seem to get it and like it—now we just need to get more attention for it.

R&T:  What is your vision for the magazine in the future?

Wilkins:  We’d like to add some minor improvements to the application, obviously, and we’re thinking about having a contest issue soon. What I’d like is to continue with what we’re doing: providing our readers with a chance to read along with some of the best contemporary writers.

Ian and I also run Old Brick Press, LLC, which is accepting submissions for novellas and chapbooks to be published as applications along the same lines as Scarab.

What we hope for most, though, is to use the tools at our disposal to support artists through publicity and payment. 22% of Scarab goes directly back to the artists in the issue, so the more we can sell the better our payments for a poem or work of prose get. We hope that we can contribute to a marketplace where an author can make a living through their published work.

R&T:  How can writers get in touch with you if they are interested in submitting work?

Wilkins:  The best way to submit work for Scarab is through our submission manager on our website, www.scarabmag.com. If you’re interested in submitting for the chapbooks and the novellas you can email me at submissions@oldbrickpress.com

Thanks, Brian, for sharing your time with us. You can check out Brian’s poem, “Absolute Zero,” in Rose & Thorn Journal’s Winter issue starting January 15^th as well as a listen to his Podcast on our blog.

C.L. Toups is Managing Editor and Senior Poetry Editor for Rose & Thorn.