I'm made of paper and staples, ink and style. Words and sass. You know you want this.
The Birth of StreetWorthy
So I was sitting in my living room one night in September 2007, watching “Strangers with Candy†and talking about being famous with my roommate Jai. Jai’s an accomplished artist who’s compulsively creating, and I sure thought about creating a lot. But he was knitting something complicated between punchlines whereas I was just sitting, bogarting the joint and voicing my anxieties. Was I good enough to take my creative efforts seriously? Would I be swallowed up by office jobs, grounded by my swivel-chair-bound ass? Maybe I didn’t have the same creative compulsion as Jai, but my constant anxiety must count for something. I could build some sort of an audience, surely.
“I mean, my shit’s street worthy, right?†I wondered aloud, referring to an idea of mine involving sidewalk stencilling. And then: “Streetworthy! That’s it! That’s the name of our zine and/or arts collective that will showcase our work and talent and catapult us to fame!!!†I shouted (I have tendencies towards the dramatic). Jai smiled and nodded with the sage approval of a mentor who’s witnessed his pupil in an inevitable moment of epiphany, and I scribbled furiously on a post-it. “‘Street Worthy.’ No, ‘Streetworthy.’ No, ‘StreetWorthy.’ That’s it.†And so the concept was born.
Luckily, I already had a pool of interested folks eager to contribute their fine work. Pretty much all of my friends write, draw, and generally create cool shit, and most of us are in the same relative boat, which is to say young, struggling, and exhausted by the effort of staying alive amidst sky-rocketing San Francisco rents and dwindling craigslist job listings. Us writers in particular were growing increasingly familiar with fierce competition and feelings of anonymity after un-answered query letters, ignored emails with writing samples attached, and flat-out rejection notices written for mass delivery. StreetWorthy offered us a chance to do something ourselves, without waiting for some established editor’s approval. Plus, we can say whatever we want about anything we want. (Read: total bitchfest. Kidding.)
StreetWorthy aims to offer insight into the world of the young and un-established, in all our candid frustration, hope, and whatever else we’re inspired to express. We publish short stories and essays, comics, illustration, and potentially anything that can be printed on a page. We hope others are inspired not only to read it, enjoy it, and pass it on, but to join up by submitting work, time, and talent to this on-going project. Thanks for reading, and stay strong!
– Rita Sapunor
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