From the Editor: Introductions and Salutations

Hello, friends.

I’d like to introduce myself as the new Managing Editor at Lavender, and I’m thrilled to be part of the family.

I grew up on a small Indian reservation in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s a grizzled, wild place—Ernest Hemingway’s turf, Jim Harrison’s (for the most accurate literary portrayal of the U.P., in my opinion, you can check out Brown Dog; there are no accurate cinematic portrayals). After high school, I earned a scholarship to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, but left after a year, seeking a more structured academic environment (not only was I a bad student, I despised Chicago). I finished my undergraduate career in Montana, and then earned my MFA out in Portland, OR.

After a stint back in Michigan, I moved to Los Angeles and worked as Deputy Editor for the international award-winning arts and culture publication Flaunt. This was an exciting opportunity for me, as I grew up reading that very magazine, picking up a copy whenever my mom and I would make the 30-mile drive to the nearest bookstore.

I then moved back here to be closer to my family. Since, I’ve held various soul-shattering corporate gigs, but have worked as a freelance writer all along, contributing to different magazines/media nationwide.

In terms of my writing, I’ve always been drawn to interesting, fun, strange and provocative subjects. I’m a very curious person, and I love meeting and learning about new people (recently, for example, I was having (amazing) cocktails at RockFilter Distillery down in Spring Grove, MN, and wound up chatting with this burly farmer for about three hours). My goal for Lavender is to transform—I want to showcase younger, edgier, more diverse members of the community. I want to feature interesting music and artists, chefs, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, poets, and so on, folx from all backgrounds and identities—BIPOC, Femme, Trans, Intersex, Non-Binary, Two-Spirit, Allies, everybody. I want to get to know you.

That being said, I welcome pitches in the aforementioned vein: I love learning about interesting people doing cool stuff. I want to be accessible to our readers, and you can reach me at [email protected].

In my spare time, I like to write. I’m currently working on a collection of literary horror stories, as well as a sort of dissertation on masculinity. I love to read. I love music, and welcome suggestions anytime (for new stuff, I’m loving Indigo Sparke, Maple Glider, Park Hye Jin, Thom Yorke’s eerie and symphonic rework of “Creep”—but my mainstays are acts like Grouper and Timber Timbre). I also love watching movies, cooking, hiking and camping with my dogs (Gizmo, a Chihuahua, and Barney, a Chiweenie), and generally exploring the far reaches of Minnesota and beyond.

Anyway, feel free to reach out and say hello. I’d love to hear from you.

We have an exciting journey ahead of us, and we’re in this together.

Cheers.

—Andrew Stark