Talks Writing

A Lovely Little Snapshot in Time: ‘Yesterday Quarterly’ Magazine

featuring interviews of the day before, interviewer and publisher Elizabeth de Cleyre positions the extraordinary in the mundane

Kelly Carlson |

WHAT DID YOU DO YESTERDAY?
WHAT DID YOU DO YESTERDAY? Yesterday Quarterly is a new locally published magazine with long-form interviews that focus on the day before. (Submitted photos)

In a society focused on upcoming tasks, one after the other, it is rare to see a publication dedicated to reflecting on the recent past – as recent as yesterday. Polished and bright, Yesterday Quarterly (YQ) is a locally founded magazine that draws in readers through a natural curiosity of moments just recently gone by. Upon picking it up, readers are pleasantly surprised as they begin in another person’s world, simplified to the mundane yet entrancing daily tasks that life has to offer us all.

With four issues published, the new magazine features a refreshing, long-form interview style, focused solely on the interviewee’s previous day. Interviews with Soren Staff, Bianca Valenti, Graham Tolbert, and Lindsay Cherek Waller fill the initial issues, featuring photographs from concerts, competitions, artworks, and more, alongside a natural conversation with Elizabeth de Cleyre, interviewer and publisher.

“As a print journal, YQ offers a kind of intimacy of holding someone’s day in your hands, and invites us to slow down, read, and consider how we span our time,” de Cleyre wrote.

Acknowledging time in this way allows the reader to immerse in simple pleasures, leaving behind a fast-paced world for a moment or two, and instead revel in a universal connection to the everyday human experience. Read about how Staff enjoys walking around Eau Claire, how Tolbert loves dogs, and how Cherek Waller showers – just like me!

With cleverness and a serious discussion on reflection, time, and the ordinary, de Cleyre is a natural interviewer, adding to her plethora of publishing, editing, and consulting experience. She continues to work on releasing more issues soon, at a pace of around three per year. “By asking, What did you do yesterday? and sticking around to hear the answers, we’re reminded of how our days may differ or overlap, in often mundane and sometimes profound ways,” she said.

What did you do yesterday?


Learn more or buy a copy at yesterdayquarterly.com and at Dotters Books (307 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire). Learn more about Elizabeth de Cleyre’s consulting business at elizabethdecleyre.com.