Hello From the Lit Mag Side!
Controversial publication, lit mag scam, publishing opportunities, editor interviews, job openings, and a special offer for subscribers.
Greetings Lit Magstronauts,
Whew, it’s been a busy time in the land of lit mags.
Poetry Magazine has come under fire for publishing the poetry of a convicted sex offender. As The Guardian reports, “The magazine, which has been running since 1912 and is published by the Poetry Foundation, has just released its new issue focusing on work by ‘currently and formerly incarcerated people,’ their families and prison workers. It includes a poem by Kirk Nesset, a former professor of English literature who was released from prison last year after serving time for possessing, receiving and distributing child sexual abuse images in 2014.”
In Jezebel, Emily Alford writes, “Kirk Nesset has already been given opportunities many could never dream of, including a scarce, secure job at a university, a pretty light sentence for directly contributing to assaults on children, and now a chance to include a publication in Poetry on his CV. It truly begs the question: What the fuck does a white man have to do to fail?”
In Slate, Dan Kois asks, “Was Poetry Magazine Really Wrong to Publish a Child Porn Convict in Its Prison Issue?” He writes, “It is clear that Kirk Nesset did terrible things…But any arts program focused on prison populations, as a matter of course, is going to interact with—even support the work of—people who have done terrible things.”
A petition to remove Nesset from the issue has been started here.
Meanwhile on Twitter, Patrick Blagrave, Author and Editor of Prolit, has pointed out the deep ties of The Poetry Foundation to prison labor.
In other news, the literary community was also taken aback by a scam run by an outfit called Violet & the Bird. As several writers report, the magazine took numerous egregious steps in the handling of writers’ work.
In a wonderful show of empathy and support, over a dozen lit mags have announced that they accept reprints of previously published work, or have specifically opened their work for reprints, in order to offer a home for the work of writers who were victims of the scam.
Moving along, if you are looking for more places to submit your work, The Mark Literary Review has posted a list of journals currently open for submissions. Publishing…and Other Forms of Insanity has posted a list of 64 paying markets. And Neon Books has updated its big list of lit mags in the UK.
If you’d like to learn more about lit mags, The Chicago Blog has run an interview with the Editors of The Point. Says Editor Jonny Thakkar, “The pieces that catch my attention are those that feel fresh and unpredictable relative to our established sense of the political or philosophical landscape. We look for the kind of essays where a writer combines autobiographical and intellectual reflections…”
You can also find a bevy of wonderful editor interviews at The Lumiere Review, “where we feature writers, editors, artists, and other creatives and the work they are doing,” and on Rachel Thompson’s Write, Publish, and Shine podcast.
If you’re looking for work, The Poetry Foundation is hiring. “As the Foundation continues to expand opportunities to our communities, several recently announced paid independent contractor positions and projects are still open, including…freelance writers to review new poetry collections…and…early-career teaching artists to design and lead an original poetry workshop…”
If you are a lit mag editor and you’ve been struggling this season, Authors Publish has created a Fund for Literary Journals. “Authors Publish believes that literary journals and their staff should be supported as much as possible…So we’ve started this fund. Every month we will give $150 (US dollars) to a journal that has applied to the fund.”
Lastly, an exciting announcement and special offer from One Story!
Subscribers to this Lit Mag News Roundup can now receive a 10% discount on the One Story writing class, Character: A Craft Intensive with Patrick Ryan. “Over the course of six days, you’ll delve into physical description, build dynamic settings, sharpen dialogue skills, play with point-of-view, explore motivation and change. The methods taught in craft lectures, exercises, and in group discussions on the online message board will be ones that you can put to use long after the class ends.”
One Story, Inc. is an award-winning, not-for-profit literary publisher committed to supporting the art form of the short story and the authors who write them—through One Story, One Teen Story, education, community, and mentorship.
To take advantage of this offer, please become a paying subscriber to this here Lit Mag News Roundup. (You’ll also get full access to the archive and exclusive access to live editor roundtable chats, a new feature coming soon!) Then just reply to this newsletter with your name and contact info, so we can get you registered.
And that you dear dreamers of all the life that has been delayed, you sweet searchers for secret tunnels out of tense and constricting mazes of stagnation, you who long for yesteryear, you who pine for futuredays, you climbing the walls of your cluttered cages and you swallowing screams that taste like silver in your souls starved of sunlight, you who have found beautiful quiet things in unexpected places and you who have revised your standard of beauty to mean, simply, a moment’s flash of rainbow light upon the living room floor, a sparkling snowflake upon a sloping shoulder, or, maybe just, a magical stretch of minutes in which freaking nobody is freaking asking you to freaking do something for one freaking minute and you can freaking hear your freaking self freaking think, ah, beauty, yes, you, seekers of it, finders of it, and even, unwittingly, manifesters of it, really, truly, you are, it’s you, this big bright beautiful universe, it’s you, always you, is the news in literary magazines.
Have a fine week, pals.
Fondly,
Becky
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As always and ever, dear friends, thank you for reading. And a special thank you today to one of our Founding Members, Winning Writers.
Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee)
20th year. Sponsored by Winning Writers, co-sponsored by Duotrope, and recommended by Reedsy. Submit one humor poem online to win $2,000 and online publication. Accepts published and unpublished work. Final judge: Jendi Reiter. Enter for free at https://winningwriters.com/werglelm2102
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To quote Mary Poppins, that ending was practically perfect.
Sharon
I always begin at the end because it’s supercalafrageliciousexpialadocuiOusly divine - (and my mama served dessert first at the beach) - today’s end did not disappoint ! Nor did the various suggestions and info presented ! Ex/2000 dollars fir humorous poem ? Surely you jest!
Glad to know segments coming include interviews - one suggestion - - - can you discover some manner by which the fantastic productivity of your own writing group and it’s monkey-business can inspire us out here in various cultural deserts to make lemonade of our National Limitations?