Deek Magazine

Behind the image of a sneering man wearing a wrestling mask, suit and tie on the cover of Deek… Behind the image of a sneering man wearing a wrestling mask, suit and tie on the cover of Deek Magazine, a reader will find an emotionally charged confrontation with an adulterous father. Flip a couple of pages, and the reader will see a review of an incest-filled novel. If the reader is in a lighthearted mood, she can read one man’s musings on the merits of masturbation.

Deek began about a year and a half ago, when Matthew Stroud and a friend realized they had nothing to do.

“We were kinda bored one day, and we realized we had no outlet for that boredom,” Stroud said.

With that, they launched a “Web zine” with the expressed intent of giving bored people something to do. Soon, armed with money from advertisers and the student activities fee, Stroud put Deek into print. Its first issue debuted earlier this month.

Shying away from politics and other tense matters, Deek draws from and gives life to writers’ voices. Writers are encouraged to use Deek as a sounding board for new ideas and styles, Stroud said.

The articles in Deek cover a wide range of topics and diverse writing styles.

“Everything Falls,” by Jillian Ketterer, is the true-life account of the final, turbulent days before her father left the house. The short nonfiction piece appeared on Salon.com and is packed with vivid images of the world from the perspective of a 14 year-old girl.

“His cancer stick is a sword of fire,” she writes. “As long as that one addiction is indulged, he can fend off all other transgressions.”

This is the kind of writing Stroud said he wanted between the covers of Deek – personal nonfiction, straight from the heart.

Nathaniel Soltesz adds a different voice to the magazine with his review of the 1977 novel, “Flowers in the Attic,” by V.C. Andrews. He gives this sordid tale of incest and murder the kind of attention reminiscent of the New York Times Book Review.

“It’s a great book that doesn’t get the credit it deserves,” he said.

Stolesz, a fan of the under-appreciated and bizarre, plans to devote his monthly review section to a different obscure book or movie.

His motivation for exposing the masses to these forgotten gems?

“I don’t know,” he said. “It makes me look cool.”

The magazine also features Ben Rubin, the driving force behind the Creation Station’s “Headhunter” sketch comedy show. Rubin returns to the column writing business with “Idiotic Virtuosity,” a monthly piece that serves to channel his own personal brand of humor.

“The most unique writing I have is from my own personal life,” he said.

This month’s issue finds Rubin waxing philosophical on his struggle to accept his addiction to self-love. Situated between porn references and graphic images of masturbation are serious moments of self-reflection.

“I’d feel like I just raped myself,” he writes, with complete sincerity.

One Wednesday each month, at 9:30 p.m., Deek will hold a reading at Hemingway’s Cafe. Several writers will showcase their work in an open-mic-style format. Copies of Deek Magazine are available at various points around campus.

Editor’s note: Ben Rubin is a columnist for The Pitt News.