Ask the Editors | The F-Word

Is the F-word, perhaps several of them, permissible in a nonfiction submission? Thanks!

 

Dear Potty Mouth,

Have you fucking read Eckleburg? We are not sensitive to curse colloquialisms be it fiction, nonfiction or poetry. Not at all; however, we would encourage you to consider whether the repetitive use of the F-word is necessary to both the content and language of your piece. The more cursing, the more necessary it must be so not to become gratuitous.

There are certainly publications that do not publish curse words. And Eckleburg respects this publication specific convention. All publications have house rules.

Eckleburg is something like that Punk kid who wore his hair funny and wore big black boots and told the teacher to fuck off in class because the teacher said things like, You’ll never amount to anything unless you cut your hair and read Henry James. Your potty mouth is safe with us, as long as your potty mouth has game. Potty for potty’s sake will not fly around here.

All best,

Rae

 
The Editors