Hey I Heard You Were a Wild Lit Mag!
RAWI & AWP; open letter to PEN; Jewish Book Council initiative; more plagiarism from John Kucera; Chat GPT and editing; return of lit mags; merger of lit mags; jobs & opptys; markets & more
Welcome to our bi-weekly news roundup!
Greetings Lit Magistrate,
The ongoing crisis in the Middle East continues to echo through the literary world.
Conflict ensued at this year’s annual AWP conference after RAWI (The Radius of Arab American Writers) emailed event moderators and invited them to read a statement before their presentations. The statement reads, in part, “The event organizers would like to acknowledge that we are gathering during an active genocide taking place in Gaza, and that the current violence in Palestine is the continuation of decades of colonial violence under Israeli apartheid.”
AWP organizers replied with their own statement, noting that the email from RAWI “is not an AWP directive,” they “are committed to providing a conference environment free of harassment, fear, intimidation, or ridicule…,” and citing a “zero-tolerance policy for harassment…” which they would “continue to enforce.”
The statement from AWP met with backlash from many writers. Some called it “racist…and overall cowardly,” “hostile” and “absolutely disgusting and disgraceful.”
Earlier this month, hundreds of writers signed an open letter to PEN America “calling on PEN to respond to the extraordinary threat that Israel’s genocide of Palestinians represents for the lives of writers in Palestine and to freedom of expression everywhere.”
Most recently, The Jewish Book Council “has launched an initiative for authors, publishers, publicists, agents, editors, and readers to report antisemitic literary-related incidents.”
According to The Jerusalem Post,
What is happening in the literary world, according to some close observers, stands out for its intensity. Erika Dreifus, a New York City writer who tracks opportunities for Jewish writers on her website, said the new incidents have amplified anti-Israel sentiment in the literary world that she said frequently veers into antisemitism. Dreifus said the cumulative effect of the statements, demonstrations, and criticism is that Jewish writers with an affinity for Israel increasingly feel isolated within what has been a tight-knit literary community.
In other news, the Executive Director of Seattle’s Hugo House has announced her resignation. According to The Seattle Times, “After less than a year at the organization, Hugo House executive director Diana Delgado has resigned from the prominent yet beleaguered nonprofit literary arts center…” Hugo House, which is based in Seattle, offers writing workshops and literary events for adults and teens. It has been beset by financial troubles and complaints from community members for the past several years.
Meanwhile, it seems the serial plagiarist John Kucera strikes again—this time under a new name. In a Facebook post, Thimble Magazine Editor Nadia Arioli wrote,
John Kucera, known plagiarist, just submitted to Thimble Literary Magazine using the email johnkucera33@gmail.com, same as he usually does. This time with the name R.J. Franz. The email comes up as John Kucera, but now he's stating another name. Like, at least use another email? Like the one under the address? The one that says the correct name? And don't reuse the same bio as the other persona. It's not that hard.
…This post is public. This is not my usual ethos or tactic, but:
A. People, especially editors, need to know. Put R.J. Franz on your list.
B. None of this information is real. That's not his real name. That's not a real address.
No more bullshit.
Moving into the digital realm, four lit mag editors recently sought to find out whether chat GPT could do their job. The result? As they discussed in The Conversation, “ChatGPT can give credible-sounding editorial feedback. But we recommend editors and authors don’t ask it to give individual assessments or expert interventions any time soon…” Additionally, “When writing challenges expected conventions, AI struggles to respond. Its primary function is to appropriate, amalgamate and regurgitate – which is not enough when it comes to editing literary fiction.”
In more uplifting news, I was delighted to see the recent resurrection of several lit mags. Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I hear a lit mag is “going on hiatus,” I assume they’re just kicking the can of a closure announcement down the road. But oh, prove me wrong, dear lit mags!
Misery Tourism announced they are back:
And matchbook announced their return:
Creative Nonfiction and Narratively have joined forces. On a blog post from earlier this month, CNF Founder Lee Gutkind writes,
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me and since we’ve published any new issues of Creative Nonfiction. It’s partially because I’ve been writing my latest book, but also because I’ve been strategizing behind the scenes to ensure that the legacy of Creative Nonfiction lives on, as I look to this next phase of my life and career. I’m very pleased and excited to report that we’ve formed a unique friendship and partnership with the storytelling platform Narratively to help us build on our three decades of work and remarkable community at Creative Nonfiction. Many of you, I’m sure, are already readers or contributors to their wonderful publication, and those of you who aren’t are in for a treat.
Granta has a new poetry editor. According to The Bookseller,
“The Granta Trust has appointed Anahid Nersessian to be the new poetry editor of Granta magazine…
[Nersessian] said, “With my other Granta colleagues, I’ll be searching out the best new poetry from a wide variety of authors, from previously unpublished voices to the most celebrated writers of the past several decades.”
On his Substack, Lit Mag News contributor, writer and editor Doug Jacquier discusses his motivation for creating his new magazine Witcraft. He writes,
I know there’s a market out there of people who want some daily relief from the gloom and doom that seems to pervade the news and the web. And I know writers who love to write humour.
In despair at being able to find a home for well-crafted humorous work, I decided (with a lot of encouragement from my wife, Sue) to be the change I wanted to see. Hence Witcraft.
If you attended AWP, Cincinnati Review wants to hear from you. Say the editors, “This survey helps us determine the ways we approach our bookfair presence at future AWP conferences”
And ASME (the American Society of Magazine Editors) has announced its 2024 National Magazine Award finalists and winners. Yale Review and Oxford American were among magazines on the short list for General Excellence and Literature. The award for Fiction went to Paris Review, with The Georgia Review and American Short Fiction among the finalists.
Looking for work in the fast-paced industry of literary magazine publishing? Here’s what I know:
Arboreal seeks volunteers.
Words Without Borders is open for Editorial Fellow applications.
Bellevue Literary Review seeks Nonfiction and Poetry Editors.
Sunhouse is open for Poetry and Prose Editor positions.
Oxford Review of Books seeks a Poetry Editor.
The Drift is hiring a business manager.
For those of you seeking homes for your latest & greatest:
Erica Verrillo has posted 75 Writing Contests in March 2024 - No entry fees.
SubClub has posted 59 Australian Literary Magazines & Journals.
Authors Publish has 25 New Literary Journals (Seeking Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry)
As for us, this month is just about over but we’ve still got a few fun things in store. Those of us in the Lit Mag Reading Club will be meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss a recent issue of Bellevue Literary Review.
We will also meet with the BLR editors on Wednesday to learn all about what went into putting this issue together. Its theme is “Taking Care” and it’s a powerful one.
You can find dates and times here. Registration links are here.
Both events are open only to members of the Lit Mag Reading Club. Anyone can become a member anytime by becoming a paying subscriber to Lit Mag News.
Next month we will have a whole new line-up of events, including interviews with the Editors of Summerset Review and One Story. I’ll be posting the dates asap. Keep your eyes peeled!
You can learn more about the Lit Mag Reading Club and get a discounted subscription to One Story right here.
And that you big-winged birds, daily stretching and spanning yourselves around all that you care about most, you hungry-hearted lions, braving the ever-imminent onslaught of unsavory occasions and events, you zany zebras with your stripes tugging at you in oh so many zig-zaggiful directions, you precious and preening peacocks with so much of which to be proud, or, at least, to pretend to be proud of, in a false show, perhaps, but, like, not in an obnoxious way? just a sort of fake-it-til-you-make-it way? because heck, we all need that blazing bright feathery hopeful fearlessness once in a while, so please, by all means, go on, peacock away and live your best shimmery-strut life, you whose heart is a keeper tending to creatures both feral and friendly, you who swing from vines with effervescent rapscallion fizz, you and you, everywhere growling, clawing, snacking, napping, and most of all flying, up and up and up, into something skylike and free as a million uncaged stars, is the news in literary magazines.
Have a most wildly wonderful week, pals.
Fondly,
Becky
Becky,
Thank you for reporting in a neutral way on disagreements within the literary community over the Middle East. Much appreciated.
I am a reader of the newsletter though not typically active in the comments. I felt compelled to echo others — thank you Becky for reporting with integrity. I had not been aware of the goings-on at AWP.
As an American Jew of SWANA heritage, I have found Erika Dreifus's rhetoric and (seemingly uncritical) support of Israel, and implicitly its genocide, to be so off-putting that I unsubscribed from her newsletter. It saddens me to see someone I used to respect devalue Arab life in this way. I believe it is this devaluation of life — rather than criticism of Israel — that is ultimately cultivating antisemitism in this country and globally.