Josh Dale is a Temple University alum the founder and editor-in-chief of Thirty West Publishing House. His work can be found in or forthcoming in Page & Spine, 48th St. Press, Drunk Monkey's, Huffington Post, and others. Check out his website and give him a follow on Twitter / Instagram @jdalewrites.
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GB: Josh, thank you for taking time to chat. My first question is usually: can you share a little bit about yourself? Got any background info worthy of telling the readers?
JD: Sure thing. I was originally born in Philadelphia and was transplanted to the 'burbs of Chester County. In high school, I won a battle of the bands contest with a band called Red Friday. Other than drumming with them, I was deathly afraid of bicycles from the age of 6 to 22 from a minor, yet traumatizing, crash. Now, I'm trying to pedal myself to 500 miles this year up and down the Schuylkill River trail. Funny how life works out.
GB: On top of being a fantastic writer, your the founder and editor-in-chief of Thirty West Publishing House. How did you get started there and what influences brought you to that side of the creativity?
JD: Back when I was a doe-eyed undergrad at Temple, I took a course on publishing that encompassed not only the business but aesthetic and albeit Marxist philosophy (at least from what I interpreted it). This was back in 2015 when 'Instagram poetry' was just becoming a thing and I was catching the wave of it. Thanks to my best friend and more harsh truths I learned about the business, I dedicated more of my mental power to developing Thirty West. Long story short, I kinda just ran away with it and started self-publishing my own work to now people all over the US and the world nearly 3 years later.
GB: Do you have any advice for someone looking to get started on that side of the scene? What kind of experiences should they look for in order to take a step in that direction?
JD: I would first recommend not falling down the rabbit hole of social media fame. It's nearly like a lottery and rarely do you see an artist thriving on there. For the most part, it's an echo chamber and should be used to augment one's career, not to be absolute. I had the privilege of learning from small press editors from my time at Temple and highly recommend one do the same, be it virtually observing how they do things, or better yet, shadowing/interning for one. It may seem like a lot of work, but most people would gladly give some tips or appreciate an extra set of hands (especially during a print run!). There are many factors such as aesthetic, the technical side of typesetting, acquisitions, editing, marketing, and so on. I'm still learning and I have confidence that my team will excel in the months and years to come.
GB: How does being an editor on the masthead inspire your writing? What impacts does that have on your own work?
JD: It helps to know that every small press owner I've met is a writer in some compacity. We are always bouncing ideas off each other, unconsciously or otherwise. Each author I've published I learn a little more about them and subsequently, a bit rubs off on my writing. I don't think I'd be able to adequately summarize all my authors' work right here, but it's the process of studying the work from the word or line to the entire manuscript. It's not only the levels you must ascend and descend, but know the direction you face at all times. I'm also thrilled to have an abundance of authors to read in our fledgling journal, Tilde. I felt that Thirty West was ready for one and it's been an insightful and nurturing being.
GB: What's your creative process like? Got any obstacles you've had to overcome?
JD: Piggybacking off question 2, I was circling the pool with all my clothes on with writing. I had ideas but wasn't looking to or able to dive in. I had two moments of "harsh reality" that I feel like every artist of all disciplines must endure before moving onward. The first instance I'm willing to talk about was submitting some poems to the literary journal of Temple. I knew acknowledgments were tantamount to success, so I sat in wait to my anonymous critique. Long story short, everyone except myself voted "no" (mine was a "maybe" to my so-called "enlightened prose poem." Listening to my work become eviscerated by my peers made me realize my efforts were shallow at best. The following term, I was published within, being my 2nd acknowledgment. Nowadays, I like to dedicate time to write aside from my 9-5 and Thirty West obligations. Poems come and go and I'm virtually near a computer or pen and paper all the time, so I jot down snippets of thought or the entire thing if time permits. Evernote is great in that regard since you can pick up where you left off anywhere. As far as fiction, there are times when I'm able to pound out thousands of words in a few hours, or I'm stuck on one paragraph. I feel that I'm too intense with my 1st drafts and that's why it takes me forever to finish one story. I'm hoping its just a quirk I'll overcome, but I highly suggest that if you're in my shoes, just throw caution to the wind and get it down.
GB: Which authors/artists have had the most profound influences on your work?
JD: I really enjoy the American Romantics, especially Hawthorne's short fiction way more than his novels. Ironically, we were both born on July 4th. When I visited Concord, MA two summers ago, I had some sort of out-of-body experience in The Old Manse. Despite being on a guided tour, I had to catch up after a moment to observe the study in which Hawthorne and Emerson practiced their craft. I thought of the hundreds of thousands of words that were written and orated within that tiny room. I had to touch something to leave a shred of my being there, so I skimmed the molding around the window and left in a slow gait. I guess if I had to longlist my influences, it would be something like this: Fiction: Hawthorne, Kafka, O'Connor, and Aira. Poetry: Shelley, Blake, Dickinson, Whitman, and Neruda.
GB: Who and what is on your MUST-READ list?
JD: This question would require plenty of namedropping and a hint of nepotism, but isn't that the idea, right? To champion people you've published or that you read voraciously with the highest regard? Thirty West's newest author, Charnell Peters, is on the top of my list. Her work is nothing short of a consolation of her identity as an African-American woman in the classic American midwest. The poems are dense, yet guided; sensual, yet poignant. I have good faith that her chapbook, Un-becoming, shall be a huge success within her community and our own. As far as other recommendations, I highly recommend Irish poet, Karina Bush. I've been her fan since her first chapbook in 2016 and more of a friend beforehand; I swear she can write an autobiography over the past 3-5 years. Everyone likes an underdog and she has the grit and tenacity to always outperform her older work. People are beginning to notice.
GB: What does "success" mean to you?
JD: Success, as I grow older and wearier, is far more subjective than I thought back in high school. It sure as hell doesn't matter on your class, tax bracket, or where you went to college. Hell, even just making your bed in the morning can be considered a "success". To me, success is gauged on a micro and macro tier. If you feel you failed the day, just remind yourself that your week has not failed, but even so, did you really fail a day or did you allocate a time to disconnect and rest? Again, all about perspective. Today's world requires a lot of lateral movements and integration of skill in multiple avenues so I try to approach a specific end-goal by multiple vantage points (as long as they are legal!). Of course, I'd like Thirty West to be a regular at AWP in 3 years or so, but does that garnish true success? In my eyes, I've succeeded tenfold greater than 2016 Josh and I hope 2020 Josh is exponentially better.
GB: What's next for Josh Dale? Got any upcoming projects we can keep an eye out for?
JD: Aside from individual poems and stories being published in journals, I've been taking two chapbooks out of the dark; one is poetry, the other is non-fiction. I'm at the point where I'm looking at something too long and starting to miss things I had front and center when typing & consolidating. I think it's best to hold off of details since there aren't any looming newsflashes, but rest assured, acknowledgments have been piling up for both of them as well as reading specific pieces live. It's been 2 years since my last publication and I feel ready for the next one to (hopefully) be released late this year or next year.
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