As a nod to our ten-year anniversary, what better way to celebrate the occasion than to share the journeys of contributors, editors, readers, and interns who are our Expo Family? Within this blog series, folks from our Expo Fam have been invited to share how they got involved with the journal, as well as how it has influenced their work.
We view this series as a time capsule for the impact and growth that has taken place at Exposition Review. We hope these personal reflections can inspire others to read, write, and learn more about what our journal has to offer.
Our next Expo Story star is Max Tachis.
From Actor to Contributor
Beloved Expo contributor Max Tachis had a unique introduction to Exposition Review. In 2016, we published Bay Area playwright Jeffrey Lo’s short play “Where You’re From” in our inaugural issue, Vol. I: “IX Lives.” After Jeffrey expanded the piece into the full-length play Waiting for Next, Expo hosted a staged reading in Los Angeles, for which Jeffrey drove down from the Bay Area with friends and actors Max and Wes Gabrillo. Jeffrey shared that he had always envisioned Max in the role of Marcus, and Wes as Frank.
Later, we were thrilled to have Max submit to our “Lines” issue, and to get to publish his fiction piece “The Wobble,” which we nominated for Best of the Net and the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Max reveals that through this opportunity, his idea of what mediums were available for submissions expanded. He also felt emboldened as a writer, since we were the first to publish his short fiction.
His publication in “Lines” brings us to one of his favorite memories with the journal:
“The launch party for the volume I was included in at Skylight Books was incredible. Being there with the whole team, and so many of the other artists whose work was featured, getting to celebrate each other and hear each other’s pieces was a really special experience.”
When asked about the most rewarding and challenging aspects of working with a literary journal, he shared that staying within a journal’s given theme can be difficult, but he later realized that this kind of restriction can actually spark creativity.
“It’s something that can feel limiting, but actually forces you to expand your own perception of what the word or image you’ve been offered can mean.”
Expo Impact
We asked Max about his relationships with the Expo team. Did he find himself connecting more with one particular editor? He mentions how the entire team has always been welcoming, but he especially remembers popping into Mellinda Hensley’s writing hours, in which he really “dug the vibe.”
He wasn’t the only one with kind words. Many on the editorial team still remember Tachis’s powerful performance in Lo’s Waiting for Next. His path to Exposition Review also reminded us that the journal is more than just a literary journal. It’s a space where stories come alive and one that connects artists with their audiences. We were honored to publish Max’s first fiction piece.
Moving Toward the Future
Max shares a few passionate words of what he learned from Exposition Review—
“Just how much energy and passion is required to keep that thing running. It’s an extraordinary feat just to get the dang thing off the starting line, but to include outreach programs for young writers and these live events for featured artists can’t happen without all of you caring so much.”
He loves that Expo takes chances on first-time submitters, evidenced by the opportunities for fresh, new voices.
A line of advice to leave you with, Max states:
“Trust them as much (if not more) than you trusted yourself when you created your piece.”
Biography
Max Tachis is an actor and writer from San Jose, California, with plays performed in readings and festivals all across the Bay Area. Most recently his adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was part of a new works festival at City Lights Theater Company in San Jose, and his world premiere adaptation of Cyrano, cowritten with Jeffrey Lo, opened last April at Los Altos Stage Company. His first published short story, a sci-fi comedy titled “The Wobble,” was featured in Exposition Review’s “Lines” volume.