I Could Drink a Case of Lit Mags!
Turmoil at Guernica; new lit mag for erotic writing; new Chill Subs feature; a funny cover letter; staff openings; markets for your work, & more
Welcome to our bi-weekly news roundup!
Greetings Lit Maglientele,
Once again, staff members have resigned en masse from a magazine. This time, it was at Guernica, “an award-winning magazine…focused on the intersection of arts and politics,” over an essay that proved to be highly controversial. “From the Edges of a Broken World,” by British translator and Israel resident Joanna Chen, first appeared on March 4th.
Reactions to the essay have ranged from “absolutely vile” and “a piece of anodyne, both sides-ist hasbara” to “beautiful and humane” and “very balanced.”
Soon after the essay’s publication, staff members began stepping down and also calling for the resignation of Guernica’s Editor-in-Chief, Jina Moore Ngarambe. Several writers also requested their work be removed from the site and withdrew submissions.
Madhuri Sastry posted on X: “I am resigning from my position as co-publisher at Guernica Magazine. Free Palestine.” Sastry’s resignation letter states that Chen’s essay “fails the only metric we have agreed to abide by: it attempts to soften the violence of colonialism and genocide.”
Assistant Publisher Jackie Domenus posted, “In solidarity with members of the editorial & pub teams, I have also decided to resign from my position…It has unfortunately become clear that during a genocide, the mag is failing to take a stand for what it claims to stand for.”
Senior Editor April Zhu resigned and posted, “To continue offering my labor to a publication that in turn lent its reputation to such an essay would change the nature of my work at Guernica, no longer the labor of love that I’ve always stood behind without a second thought. Thus, I withdraw my labor.”
Fiction Editor Ishita Marwah posted, “[B]y publishing a rank piece of genocide apologia this week…Guernica has revealed itself to be…a pillar of eugenicist white colonialism masquerading as goodness.” Marwah also called the process of the piece’s publication “murky.”
Since the backlash, Guernica has taken down the essay.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency picked up the story, reporting that “As many as 15…editors and staffers…resigned, according to a review of recent changes to the magazine’s masthead.” They add, “For some Jews who have questioned their place in progressive and literary spaces since Oct. 7, Guernica’s retraction offered new evidence of a toxic discourse in which no Israeli or Jew can pass muster.”
The upheaval was also commented upon by Reason Magazine, which noted, “A current fundraising appeal on the Guernica website declares: ‘At Guernica, we've spent the last 15 years producing uncompromising journalism.’ After de-publishing the essay, that appeal may need to be taken down too.”
As of today, the magazine’s remaining editors have posted no further updates. A note in the essay’s place reads: “Guernica regrets having published this piece, and has retracted it. A more fulsome explanation will follow.”
Shifting focus, some of you may recall my weekend question about why there are so few sex scenes published in lit mags nowadays. If that topic piqued your interest, you may enjoy a magazine which has just relaunched. The Erotic Review “publishes stories, poetry and essays by leading writers and each limited edition magazine is curated by a different art editor.”
For those of you who like knowing what percentage of work in lit mags is solicited versus “slush,” Chill Subs has announced the launch of a new feature. They posted, “Raleigh Review started this effort to bring more transparency into publishing, and we’re happy to implement it.”
And for those of you who need a bit of a laugh (which is all of us, isn’t it?), you might appreciate this cover letter which crossed my path today:
For those of you looking for work in the fast-paced biz of lit mag publishing, the pickings are slim but mighty this week:
matchbook seeks a Social Media Manager.
midnight & indigo seeks editors.
For those of you seeking homes for your latest & greatest:
Erica Verrillo has posted 86 Calls for Submissions in March 2024 - Paying markets; 75 Writing Contests in March 2024 - No entry fees.
Erika Dreifus has posted “fee-free opportunities that pay for winning/published work, resources, & more.”
Sub Club has a list of 43 Lit Mags Closing for Submissions Soon.
Authors Publish has 56 Literary Journals that Pay their Authors; 5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in March 2024 and 34 Themed Submission Calls and Contests for March, 2024.
As for us, there is lots happening in the days ahead! On Thursday I will be speaking with Joseph Levens, Editor of Summerset Review. We also have some upcoming info sessions next week. Information for all of these events is here:
Save the Dates! March interviews & info sessions!
Last Friday my daughter woke up ecstatically excited that it was the first day of March. For two reasons. The first (which I do not quite understand) is that she is very into St. Patrick’s Day. She talks about it like it’s Christmas. I have no idea why.
Meanwhile, those of us in the Lit Mag Reading Club are currently reading (and hopefully enjoying!) a few recent issues of One Story. If you would like to participate, it’s not too late to order your discounted One Story subscription! You can learn about that and learn all about our amazing Lit Mag Reading Club right here:
2023-2024 Reading Club Schedule & Discount Codes
Friends, I’m excited to finally share the full schedule for our Lit Mag Reading Club this year! If you are unfamiliar with Lit Mag Reading Club, it’s a club where we all get together and read one lit mag each month. At the end of the month, the journal’s editor(s) and contributors to that issue are invited to join us by zoom and answer all our questions.
And that you sweet dreamers and spring cleaners, you cloud watchers and witchcraft coveters, you on your third day of an intermittent fast and you on your ninth hour of a spontaneous feast, you whose pangs of yearning are large enough to swallow the moon and you whose moony eyes loom over every thirsty loam, you with big plans just around the bend and you for whom the promise of bright jewels justifies every expense, you summersaulting your way toward another warm-weather expanse and you catapulting your wondrousness into an ever-unknown dance, you surrounded by cherry blossoms, you cheering for beautiful new becomings, you and you, everywhere, never ceasing to be starstruck, never neglecting to be awestruck, never quitting that particular pinching of self that asks you if you’re dreaming because you just may be, but isn’t it precious, this one, this strange, this inexplicable, this untidy but pristinely glorious dream?, is the news in literary magazines.
Have a most exquisite week, pals.
Fondly,
Becky
I read Chen's essay, and although I'm very much against Netanyahu and Israeli apartheid, I didn't think the essay warranted being taken down. It was a personal essay about someone trying to be empathetic to her Israeli and her Palestinian friends. She concludes it is difficult but she is determined to continue.
Our culture has become frighteningly intolerant of any opinions that are not pre-formulated and absolute. Social media seems to require outrage that can be quickly relayed in 280 characters. There is no space for nuance and no time for reflection. Condemn absolutely and slam the door behind you seems to be the law of the land.
My goodness, this is fascism, plain and simple. The essay is a literary jewel - made compelling by great writing and stunning translations. It is honest and opens up readers to experience what the writer experiences — whether the reader sees the world as the writer does or not. Guernica - and ALL literary journals should prioritize how great writing is an empathy engine. The editors who threatened to resign are propagandists and, as Timothy Green says, “art is the opposite of propaganda.”