Mal Journal's latest issue is out now. Available online and in print, Issue 5 brings together essays, fiction and poetry exploring anti-erotics and sexual pessimism, from Philip Maughan's tracing of the incel phenomenon to Sophie Lewis's diagnosis of our collective turn-off and its manifestation in ‘sex-negative’ feminism. In an essay on the French philosopher Georges Bataille, Stoya reflects on the way in which sexual taboos in his work are transcended and how this also can also happen in ethically produced pornography. The issue also includes a critical reconstruction of the origin of Black Venus by Sasha Bonét, new fiction by Kathryn Scanlan and Diane Williams and poems by Kim Moore, Sam Riviere, Lara Mimosa Montes and Wayne Koestenbaum. A selection of the print issue pieces are available to read online.
Join us at the launch event
Issue 5 will launch with an online event on 20 August at 7pm BST, with readings by issue contributors on heterofatalism, sexual pessimism and the intersection of sex, violence and objectification. The event is free and open to all.
