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Join Root Quarterly for our
Sensemaking at Old Swedes’
Discussion Series, Tuesdays 2/20 - 3/26
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“A joy to leaf through—and read. It is heavily illustrated, with a mix of photographs, drawings, and comic panels, and it makes creative use of typography. The content includes an eclectic mix of essays, fiction, interviews, reviews, and recipes, making for a strong new title.”
“A high-production arts and culture affair with fiction, poetry and essays... A New Yorker for Philly? Root Quarterly pulls inspiration from higher-brow general interest magazines like Harper’s, the Atlantic, California Sunday Magazine and the London-based Riposte.”
The Root Quarterly Fund
for
Regenerative Media
“A homerun.”
WINTER 2024
“REQUIEM”
DON’T MISS:
Editor-in-Chief Heather Shayne Blakeslee revisits the Joseph Brodksy essay “On Grief and Reason” // We recommend H is for Hawk, a memoir about grief-filled falconry, and artist Natessa Amin’s “Feed the Moon” show at Commonweal Gallery // We visit the Kimmel Center Cultural Campus to hear Brahms' requiem and resurrect Leonard Bernstein and Tom Wolfe at the movies // Contributing Editor Diana Lu mourns the end of her time in Philadelphia // Songwriter Deb Montgomery issues a plea on behalf of God. With images by Nicole Michaud. // Illustrator Julia Wald asks what happens if we tolerate the slaughter of Israeli civilians // Photographer and activist Aisha Mershani on her 20-year history documenting Palestinian lives and her traveling show, “La La Lil Jidar” // Spencer Lane Jones explores conscientious objection and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem // Poetry Editor Joshua Mehigan leads us through the poetic origins of “O Death” // Elaine Crivelli on the science of memory in artist Patricia Moss-Vreeland’s work // Educator Grant Leonard explores William MacAskill’s concept of “longtermism” and what we owe the future //
“An ambitious, meticulously designed publication about arts, culture, politics, food, and Philadelphia. It offers journalism, fiction, poetry, photographs, graphics, and personal essays by a diverse and youthful crew of creatives... Clearly, RQ also is a place for writers to stretch, or perhaps meander, and for readers willing to follow.”
“Glorious. This is exactly what we need right now... This is our better angels and we owe it to ourselves, and all of us—and our future—to engage with art, and with science, with truth and with beauty, with honor, and without division.”
“Brilliant! I loved the entire enterprise”
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PARTNERS
FREE BLACK THOUGHT // KOSMOS: JOURNAL OF GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION // THE PLURALISM AND CIVIL EXCHANGE PROGRAM AT THE MERCATUS CENTER // THE PHILADELPHIA CITIZEN
ON SENSE MAKING AND SLOW MEDIA
Don’t miss Publisher and Editor Heather Shayne Blakeslee on the UnityNow! podcast talking about civics, the necessity of slow media, the dangers of big tech, and Pennsylvania politics.
WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU’RE MISSING?
We’re pleased to announce that RQ was named by Library Journal as a best new magazine the year we launched! Check out the full article here. Their top-ten picks also included the U.S. edition of London’s The Spectator, a Copenhagen-based Scandinavian art and architecture magazine, and a title that covers global female skateboarding culture. We’re delighted to have Philadelphia in the mix, and that we were featured with a profile in the Philadelphia Inquirer, who called us “ambitious” and “meticulously designed.”
We were also given a wonderful review on the Darkhorse Podcast by Heather Heying, who called us, “Exactly what we need right now… glorious,” and encouraged readers all around the country and world to subscribe and support our work. We were also just given a lovely review in the Write Now Philly blog, who noted that we were here, “to cultivate a community that challenges beliefs and opens new conversations. Each issue also features a creative theme tying together all selected pieces.”
To find out more about our origin story you can hear founder Heather Shayne Blakeslee on the Artblog Podcast, or read her interview with Mr. Magazine. Billy Penn also reported on RQ’s launch last spring. We want to give a giant THANK YOU to the wonderful group of people who celebrated with us. Enjoy the photos and video now.
YOUR SUPPORT WILL HELP US SUCCEED
Your financial support helps us continue to produce an insightful publication and grow into a community. A monthly contribution directly to our project is the best way to support us, but if you need for your investment to be tax deductible, we’re happy to take donations via our fiscal sponsorship with CultureWorks. Visit our Support RQ page to learn more. Thank you for considering an investment of the mid-Atlantic region’s most exciting publication. Print is dead. Long live print.
SUBSCRIBE OR GET SINGLE ISSUES NOW TO BECOME PART OF OUR COMMUNITY