The Undercroft
By Youth, For Youth.
Metzler & Associates
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The Undercroft's cover photo
Some of the work from before 2010!
We're still in the process of applying for new funding - something that will directly determine the fate of the magazine. Here's a statement from our EIC:
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." -Aritsotle
As Editor-in-Chief for The Undercroft since 2006, I've seen a lot of people come, and a lot of people go. I've also seen people come back, leave again, and return once more. Individual members of our youth editorial team have had various reasons of their own for their decisions to participate, but when they have been involved with our project, their influence has always been passionate and positive.
The dedication of our changing editorial team has been reflected in the growing collection of magazines we've produced – to date, seven multi-issue volumes. I always look forward to our editorial meetings (be they monthly or bi-monthly, depending on what's been required in terms of meeting deadlines and/or appeasing the demands of our funding) because they mean immersing myself in a dynamic group of youth that are doing positive and exciting things.
To say that the frequently changing faces seen around The Undercroft's editorial table is a negative reflection on youth commitment to our project would be horribly misguided. The tendency for older generations or even the freshest generations to refer to the youth of today as an apathetic lot has a long tradition, and it is an argument that I and other people connected to The Undercroft hear frequently. The reality is that the youth I see involved with The Undercroft and its parent organization, POSSE Project, are more impassioned, hardworking, and dedicated to making change than many of the youth that surrounded me when I attended high school, or – as far as I know – the youth that graced its halls before I did. I can directly cite their involvement with things like POSSE and The Undercroft as proof of that. To those of you reading this testimony in a funding application, I would like you to consider how many youth you knew growing up that were working to de-stigmatize things like HIV/AIDS, drug use, s*x, or s*xual orientations? How many youth did you know that were posing challenging questions about gender norms and identities (or lack thereof), race, ethnicity, food production, and the environment. Put together, these issues are only a small sample of what POSSE/Undercroft youth concern themselves with on a daily basis.
The youth involved with POSSE and The Undercroft are dedicated to learning and communicating the information that they encounter, educating the communities around them – from their tightly-knit groups of friends to their general townships. In doing so, these initiatives have helped make progress in the battles to eliminate the stigmas associated with important issues like those mentioned above, effectively drawing focus to the more systemic issues that contribute to the problems. POSSE Project has done this with its outreach and Fall trainings, while The Undercroft fills its pages with related content.
Even before I became involved with The Undercroft, POSSE was one of the greatest things I had ever had involvement with. However, the reality is that youth are busy: many youth are forced to juggle combinations of jobs, homework, family life, housing issues, emotional stresses, and a heap of other things, and not all can commit to attending weekly meetings. This is where The Undercroft picks up where POSSE leaves off and can reach an even broader audience, transporting knowledge and ideas that POSSE trainings might focus on to youth that might never step foot into the training environments (it could also work as an access point to this). When youth are too busy to come to a scheduled POSSE meeting, the involved but low commitment offering of a magazine can be picked up at any time to be read, studied, and pondered over. In fact, I can make the case that for some youth, The Undercroft offers better opportunities for learning than POSSE trainings might – not because POSSE is inadequate (it's not), but because some youth excel at learning more in the quiet, private company of the written word than in a speaker-facilitated training session or a group discussion. With written media, youth have the power to take learning into their own hands: they can read at their own pace, spending more time in some places than others, rereading points of interest and perhaps making notes in the margins or even penning rebuttals and submitting them for publication, contributing to the debate. For me, POSSE has always been about encouraging discussion, and The Undercroft has been an asset in helping them succeed at this since its inception. The magazine's demise would be a great loss to POSSE as well as to the community.
In terms of content and format, The Undercroft has been something of a chameleon, but the focus around our editorial meeting tables has always been the same: provide youth and their surrounding communities with a publication that is at once a positive venue to voice opinions in and pursue self-efficacy.
As someone that has claimed an older "youth" status than most of the people I've worked with in POSSE for some time, when I've circulated copies of our magazine, I've heard concerned comments from friends, family, and peers alike saying that we've published some pretty dark stuff. There's even been criticism against that. While a consistent feature of our magazine is a collection of articles matching a specific theme chosen for the issues in advance, we also regularly receive creative submissions that we publish regardless of their relation to that theme. Theme-specific articles have always been a part of The Undercroft formula. We strive to provide positive, empowering, informing content from unique perspectives conveyed in fresh and creative ways. We also accept creative submissions that comes in the form of artwork, short stories, and poetry. The criticism I have brought up has always been related to what can be lumped into the "creative submissions" category.
We have received poetry that has taken rejection, loss, and depression as its subject matter. Sometimes, these pieces will recount personal experiences like su***de attempts or things like inflicting self harm. We have an unwritten publishing policy surrounding these pieces that honours the strength exhibited on the part of their authors in their willingness to approach us with such personal stories, and we print these pieces, often under pseudonyms to protect the safety of the author(s). It is our policy that if a youth is experiencing these things or even just contemplating them, if they are given an avenue to write about these feelings, they can continue to write about such actions rather than take them. It also lets other youth experiencing similar things know that they aren't alone. For POSSE and The Undercroft, these submissions obviously also alert us of youth that are at risk and it allows us to conduct outreach accordingly. I believe that what we do has the strength to save lives, and I think to be stripped of the ability to do that in this venue because of a lack of funding would be a damn shame. It's ironic: The Undercroft is so much bigger than money, but it's simultaneously controlled by money's availability.
For possible funders: no matter what the group, our editorial team and our contributors have always been youth with unique and encouraging perspectives. We've been up for consideration as a project worth funding a couple of times, and that is once again where we are now. Please consider helping The Undercroft.
Sincerely,
Tom Beedham
Editor-in-Chief
The Undercroft
Happy long weekend everyone! Play safe and have fun.
A little late on this update, but we extended our submission deadline for our Thought Revolutions issue up until May 27 at noon. So to all of you beautiful, creative people: get crackin'!
Email submissions to [email protected]
We're putting together a new issue that focuses in on thought revolutions. Send on-them and off-theme submissions to [email protected] by May 6 at noon for a chance to be published. We want your poems, short stories, opinion pieces, drawings, photos, collages, paintings, etc.!
Another issue off to the printers! Keep an eye out for our Symbols issue. It should be with our distributors in a few weeks!
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Missing an issue? Did you know we keep a digital archive of past issues on The Posse Project website? Check it out here: http://www.posseproject.ca/index.php/youth-driven/undercroft/archive/
Next Meeting: Sunday Feb 26, 2-4pm.
If you need a ride contact Deanna ASAP!
Happy Family Day! A special thanks to all our contributors, readers and supporters for being a part of The Undercroft family. Enjoy your day off!
Miss us? Due to some funding circumstances, we've been quiet for a little while, but we can now announce that we are putting together another issue! The theme is "Symbols." You can submit pieces that interpret that theme any way you like, or even send off-theme submissions to [email protected]. The deadline is February 26 at noon. Get working, creative people! :)
New Undercrofts are out!!!!! Look for them in your community in the next 2 days :D
NEED A RIDE TO THE NEXT MEETING? Contact Deanna or Donna soon... or simply post here! :D
Scratch that last post! We've extended our deadline until the 26th, so keep those submissions coming! We're especially on the lookout for artwork and photography, so get arting and send us a line!
Last call for submissions to be included in our two upcoming issues on anonymity/obscurity and diy/self-reliant living. Please send all art and writing to [email protected] by 1pm tomorrow if you wish to be included in our next two issues.
The Undercroft is a by youth, for youth magazinge distributed in Georgetown, Acton, and Milton, Ontario. We are currently seeking writing and art submissions for our upcoming issues. Email submissions & questions to [email protected]. We pay for what we publish.
In addition to submissions for "The Untitled Issue" we're also accepting submissions for an issue on D.I.Y/Self-Reliant living. Deadline: June 12 at 1pm.
Send submissions to [email protected].
Have a poem you just can't title? Took a picture/painted a masterpiece that's awesome but defies context and "correct" interpretations? The Undercroft is developing "The Untitled Issue," where we'll be dealing with themes of anonymity and obscurity. Send thoughts, unanswered questions, and all of your beautiful creations to email [email protected] and get the compensation (read: ca$h) you deserve.
Hey all! This issue of the Undercroft is on the various forms of spirituality and values. Be sure to send in your submissions soon! Poems, Prose, Photos and Artwork are all greatly appreciated. Share your experience, your ideas or your issues! Now accepting submissions @ Rock Universe in Milton!
Last call for submissions for the relationships issue. Send art, writing, photography, etc. to [email protected] by the 19th.
Looking for art and writing submissions for our next issue.
Get published and get paid.
[email protected]
Our next issue theme is relationships. We're covering everything from polyamory and public relationships to product/consumer dialogue. And like always, we need your submissions. Send stories, poems, artwork, etc. to [email protected]. Be creative!
What do you want to see in upcoming issues? Let us know your theme suggestions!
Still seeking content for our upcoming issue. We are especially interested in winter-themed pieces, but we accept off-theme submissions as well. Send your words or art our way!
Sorry for the lull in communication there. We are currently accepting submissions for our Winter issue of the zine. If it's anything from an interesting spin on winter camping to a rant about all the craziness of the holidays, if you want to write about anything winter related, send your stuff to [email protected]
Calling all gear jammers and satellite erectors! Still looking for submissions for the technology issue! Get paid for submissions!
Here's a heads up about what's going on with our next issue. The upcoming issue of The Undercroft is focusing on technology. Whether you're a technophile or a budding Luddite, we want to hear from you. Send stories, art, photos, poems, etc. to [email protected].
Also, the Summer Issue is now out! Catch POSSE during outreach or go to one of our drop spots to get your hands on a free copy!
Have pictures from wild summer adventures? Pride? G20? random skate sessions? The Undercroft is looking for art and photography submissions! Send your work our way! email [email protected]
Submissions deadline has been extended to July 11th (this Sunday) @ 1pm. If you or a friend is looking to contribute,
please email submissions
to [email protected].