Nowadays, I feel like half the turdburgers calling themselves editors are convinced that having a couple hundred Facebook likes equates to having a “successful” lit journal (whatever the fuck “success” means is beyond me, because really, who gives a shit about lit journals nowadays). I wonder if those lames realize how easy it is for me to hide their notifications so I can see the important things, like which one of my hoodrat friends is listening to 2 Chainz on Spotify.

Well, anyway, props to Grace Littlefield and Katharine Hargreaves of Whole Beast Rag, which is not a lame lit journal. I met these DABs in Chicago last year, where Katharine gave me her business card (boss alert!) so I could stalk her on Facebook. Back then, they were two doughy-eyed kids from Minneapolis with some big ideas; now they’re on the West Coast, making moves like Suge Knight. They’ve integrated themselves into the LA art scene, and have put together two incredible, beautifully-designed issues for both web and print.

There’s lots of good lit shit to get read at Whole Beast Rag, like Getty Carver’s poem about octopus brains, Adam Moorad’s story about cow fetuses, and Amy Collier’s poem about not getting food. But what really makes WBR dope, though, is that they go out of their way to be about more than just lit shit—there’s this ridiculous advice column, a couple of get-sexy mixtapes, and even an honest, heartfelt interview with a sex worker. This ain’t Ploughshares, yo: Whole Beast Rag is a living, breathing arts publication that is not afraid to grab your typical, vanilla-ass WordPress journal by the ankles and dangle it over a balcony. And in terms of pure web design—yo, those headers and that search script.

The next issue drops in March, and features work from Aurelia Friedland, Neal Kitterlin, and OMG DAN DEACON. Keep your ears open, and be sure to send them that hot shit.