Quail Bell (kwāl • bel) -n: 1. A social and artistic experiment in the imaginary, the nostalgic, and the otherworldly. 2. A fairy punk living, questioning, and creating anywhere, anyplace, anytime, online and offline. 3. A magazine and a community.
Spilling Ink Again
By Thomas Fucaloro of Luna Luna Mag - When you think of the poetry of Jeanann Verlee you wonder how can one bring the thunder and the rain? How can something rattle you so much yet feel like a baptism? Well, if you’ve read Racing Hummingbirds from Write Bloody Press, you know these questions are valid. This interview with Jeanann is fascinating More...
150 Years of Stories
By Luna Lark - Plastered in my “respectable” make-up and clothes, I walked up to the iron-wrought fence with a tote bag. I curled my fingers around the tracery to catch myself from falling. It was a typically hot and humid July afternoon in Washington and I had spent the past hour exploring Capitol Hill. Even a big can of sweet tea wasn't enough to revive me. I was More...
The James House: Stories of Survival
By Kristen Rebelo - Editor's Note: This is a trigger warning. The following video and interview content contains stories of domestic violence and sexual abuse. This is the fifth in a series of videos by The James House, where survivors of abuse volunteer to share their stories. The James House provides support groups for men, women, and children who have experienced domestic violence and sexual abuse and is an important free resource serving the Richmond and Central Virginia areas. These resources include a 24 hour crisis line, shelters, More...
Learning to Read Again
By Fay Funk - It started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I had a long commute between school and home. It was 45 minutes on the R train from the door of my Brooklyn apartment to my first class of the day at NYU. A 45 minute commute twice a day, and listening to music just wasn’t cutting it anymore. I’ve found I can’t sit still and listen to music, I need to More...
Michael Sam Isn't Your Clickbait
By Christopher Sloce - On Feb. 9, Michael Sam, a Missouri defensive end came out as gay. Unlike Jason Collins, his career is just beginning. Also unlike Jason Collins’s, he has a boatload of accolades: first team All American, bowl appearances, winner of the SEC defensive player of the year award. The premiere knock before this announcement was that, size wise, More...
The Twelve Handsome Princes
By Sandra Scholes - A princess was said to have lived within the confines of the palace and, for all the palace's riches, the girl had only one room, a bed, a jug of water, a plate for food and a mirror, but no one to keep her company. This is not to say that she was bad. Her mother wanted to punish her for being beautiful and gifted as was her way. She had always been a good girl, but now that she was reaching maturity and had begun her menses, the queen felt it time she thought of taking a prince, though it would be one she had picked out More...
Birthing a Book
By Luna Lark - I never imagined writing a book days before deadline to be as messy as a scene from Window Water Baby Moving. Though the experience may not have been as bloody, I did consider eating a placenta at the end of it all for nourishment. (Placentophagy seemed smart after the couple dozen More...
A Step Towards Cementing Harmful Gender Binary
By Mo Karnage - The news has hit the presses that the Virginia High School League has changed a policy, voting 27-0, allowing for the participation of transgender students in school sports. The new policy has some people declaring this yet another move towards equality, while others are rising to the surface with plenty of transphobic things to say. While it could More...
Reflecting on Reflections on Rapa Nui
By Paisley Hibou - Tammy Kinsey is a Professor of Film at the University of Toledo in the Midwest. She has been making films since she was eight years old, and continues to revel in the possibilities of experimental film and varied modes of storytelling. She received her MFA in Filmmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work is a hybrid of experimental More...
This is Not an Urban Legend
By Brainy Bird - One of the cinematic scenes I feared most as a child happens in The NeverEnding Story. Despite his master Atreyu's efforts, Artax, the noble steed, dies in the Swamp of Sadness. No matter how many times I saw that horse die, I cheered on Atreyu with every viewing of the film.C'mon, Atreyu! You can save him! Of course, he failed every time. More...
No Love for Acquaintances
By Quail Bell Provocateur - Call me a Grinch, but I bristle at the liberal use of the word “friend.” A friend is someone I love. Sure, I wish I could love everyone, yet that would devalue the meaning of love. No heart is big enough to contain equal concern for all of the human population. Not even Mother Teresa's. We've got to prioritize. I prioritize my friends, my real friends—not friends of friends of friends of friends. Everyone else has to settle for my run of the mill respect and compassion. Chances are I won't be picking More...
$30,000 A Year
By Christine Stoddard - One week ago, I was pressed against a blond wood bar, talking shop with a publishing colleague. Somehow we had found ourselves in the nosiest restaurant in all of Richmond outside of the Fan—and yet still a safe distance from the droves of restless VCU students eager for their PBR and cut-offs at the height of winter dreariness. This More...
They Yanked Out Percy Shelley's Heart
By Amelia Parkison Edelman -
When the poet perished, Like Cowper’s each, alone in a boating accident, his body was brought More... Lessons From Frankenstein's Monsters
By Alex Carrigan - In 1973, Spanish director Víctor Erice released a film called The Spirit of the Beehive. The film follows Ana, a six-year-old girl living in a Castilian village right after the end of the Spanish Civil War. After watching Frankenstein, Ana becomes fascinated by the character of Frankenstein's monster and by death in general, particularly the scene where More...
Untitled With Scissors
By Alice Kemp of Snake Cult - The "Untitled With Scissors" series is both static and fluid—a living tableau of one player. Riddled with suggestion, it has at once baffled / annoyed / amused / passed by / captured the audiences it has come across. Although not firmly against talking about the piece, Kemp currently elects against sharing her largely elliptical personal More...
But How Much Does it Cost to Live in that Van?
By Margaret Kiljoy - Money is probably one of the first things on people’s minds when they ponder living in a vehicle. How much does it cost? Most people who move into vans are probably saving money. Me, I’m spending it, because it’s a hell of a lot more expensive than living out of a backpack. But that said, my expenses are pretty low. A good running used van likely More...
Nom de Plume
By Belle Byrd - Recently one of my male friends and I were discussing the decline of feminist websites XOJane and Jezebel. Previously huge fans of both sites, we agreed that their editors have started posting more and more vapid content.We were getting tired of the self-indulgent, one-dimensional personal essays and musings on celebrity gossip. More...
The Wardrobe Monster
By The Fashion Fairy - Surplus clothing is a modern Western phenomenon. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, clothes were so expensive and time-consuming to make that it was not unusual for the average person to own just one or two outfits. As factories popped up and textiles became More...
Woody Allen Shows Life is a Little Unsatisfying
By Alex Carrigan - “Nostalgia is denial—denial of the painful present...the name for this denial is golden age thinking—the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one one's living in—it's a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.” This quote appears early on in Woody Allen's 2011 More...
Before I Knew the Word "Feminism"
By Kristen Rebelo - In fifth grade, I approached my mother in the study room of our house and asked her, furious, where in the United States Constitution it said that boys had more rights than girls. I was incensed by a recent confrontation between the separate tables in the elementary school cafeteria. I cannot remember the content of the argument now, but I clearly recall it ending with, “Well, you can't do that because you're girls." More...
The Twists and Turns of Living in a Van
By Margaret Kiljoy of Birds Before the Storm - In this series, I explore some of the practicalities of living in a van in the United States. For context, I am relatively privileged: white, perceived as male, raised middle class, able-bodied, in good physical shape. My advice may or may not be useful for others in my or similar situations. So… I live in my van. I have More...
Star-crossed and Cross-themed
By Alex Carrigan - Spike Jonze’s Her is a movie I really wish I saw back in 2013, because I know I would have put it on my Best of 2013 list. I think I would have put it ahead of Wadjda and beneath 12 Years a Slave. It’s a film that really had me in awe after watching it, and it’s one that I think can provide hours of discussion. I don’t have that kind of freedom More...
The Euromaiden Protests
By Fay Funk - Buried amidst stories about Justin Bieber and the Grammys this week, in small print off to the side of every news website I read was a major story. There are massive protests happening in Ukraine. I was unaware of them until earlier this week, and I’m almost certainly not the only person. So here it is: the Ukraine is on the brink of a revolution. More...
Say Yes
By Charlie Beckerman - Marcus’ knee is bouncing restlessly and I have to put my hand on his leg to still him. “Whoa there, Padre,” I say, giving his thigh a squeeze. He scowls and folds his arms, doing his best impression of a grouch. “What do you think he wants?” “He” is our daughter Joanna’s long-term boyfriend, Nathan—to my knowledge, the only boyfriend she’s ever More...
The Ghost
By Adreyo San -
On still winter mornings, I wake to find the biscuits taken from the shelves and an eerie black cookie trail leading through the door to the frosty silence of the garden. The ghost has been visiting again. It’s when I wake to a clean kitchen More... On Meeting Your Idols
By Fay Funk - The year was 2008, and my band, The Vegaleague, was doing very well. While far from performing on a professional level, we were practicing often and playing shows about once a week, and had some very nice poppy songs written. We were remarkably put together for three More...
Lonely Baby Chick Needs More Friends
By Mo Karnage - In April of 2013 the City of Richmond approved a new ordinance making it officially permissable to have up to four hens on a residential property. The law requires you get a permit, which costs $60 every year. For comparison, a yearly license for a dog is $10 every year. So it costs $15 per chicken (if you get the maximum of four, more per chicken if More...
Friendship and Bad Films
By Amy Joyce - “We almost dated” is a very strange relationship to have with someone, regardless of how it actually turned out. Most of the time, something gets broken and the relationship is never quite the same: feelings get hurt, people cut their losses, and move on. Luckily, Andrew and I remain very good friends, and after meeting 12 years ago in high school, I don’t More...
The Hanging Gardens
By Sarah Sullivan -
I have never liked snakes, but on my thirteenth birthday my father married me off to the serpent-king. His kingdom was a desert, More... |
The Quail Bell Crew• Christine Stoddard - Editor
• Kristen Rebelo - Art Director • Mo Karnage - Associate Editor • Eleanor Fisher - Associate Editor • Laura Bramble - Assistant Art Director • Sidney Carter - Fashion Producer • Lindsey Story - Fashion Producer • Claire LeDoyen - Editorial Assistant • Sarah Sullivan - Editorial Assistant • Katelyn Rebelo - Film & Video Assistant • Fay Funk - Staff Writer • Zack Budryk - Staff Writer • Raquel Lynne - Staff Writer • Luna Lark - Staff Writer • Sorcha Patricks - Staff Writer • Christine Skelly - Staff Illustrator • Helen Stoddard - Staff Photographer • Jasmine Thompson - Staff Photographer • Elena de Leon - Staff Photographer • Mama Quail - Staff Photographer • Sarah V. Smith - Staff Set Designer • M. Alouette - Contributor • Paisley Hibou - Contributor • Starling Root - Contributor • The Sparrow Goddess - Contributor • Belle Byrd - Contributor • Kay Feathers - Contributor • The Picture Pharmacist - Contributor • Lisa Marie Basile - Contributing Editor • Josephine Stone (R.I.P.) The Quail Bell Crew operates out of the DMV—that's the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region to non-locals—but we receive submissions from writers and artists all over the world. Want to submit? Read our editorial mission and submission guidelines. Then contact us. 
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