Let's Do the Lit Mag Warp Again!

Artforum editor fired for open letter; open letter at n+1; statement from Writers Against the War on Gaza; literary "It Girls;" letter from Freeman's editor; editors MIA; jobs; markets + more

Welcome to our bi-weekly news roundup!

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Greetings Lit Mag-O’-Lanterns,

Open letters are happening everywhere these days, bringing no shortage of discussion and controversy. Artforum Editor David Velasco was recently fired after publishing an open letter signed by “thousands of high-profile artists and curators,” and which “[expressed] solidarity with Palestinians and supporting a ceasefire in Gaza…”

As The Intercept reports,

On Thursday, a week after the letter was posted, Artforum editor-in-chief David Velasco was summoned to a meeting with Jay Penske, the CEO of Artforum’s parent company, according to three sources. The son of billionaire Roger Penske, Jay oversees the conglomerate Penske Media Corporation. (Penske Media did not respond to a request for comment.) Before the day was out, Velasco was fired after six years at the helm of the magazine.

Penske is the CEO of the parent company, Penske Media Company, which acquired Bookforum last year and then closed it one week later. (Bookforum was then relaunched by The Nation.)

Closer to the world of lit mags, n+1 has published “An open letter from a group of Jewish artists, writers, and scholars in Germany.”

“We, the undersigned, Jewish writers, academics, journalists, artists, and cultural workers living in Germany, are writing to condemn a disturbing crackdown on civic life in the wake of this month’s horrifying violence in Israel and Palestine.

…In recent weeks, regional and city governments across Germany have banned public gatherings with presumed Palestinian sympathies. Canceled demonstrations include those named “No conflagration in the Middle East,” “Youth against Racism,” and “Solidarity with the civilian population of Gaza.” The ban extends to gatherings planned by Jews and Israelis, including one called “Jewish Berliners against Violence in the Middle East.” In an especially absurd case, a Jewish Israeli woman was detained for standing alone in a public square while holding a sign denouncing the ongoing war waged by her own country. 

…Dissent is a requirement of any free and democratic society.

…We further call on Germany to adhere to its own commitments to free expression and the right to assembly as enshrined in its Basic Law, which begins: “Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.”

And a new organization has formed, Writers Against the War on Gaza. This “is an ad hoc coalition committed to solidarity and the horizon of liberation for the Palestinian people. Drawing together writers, editors, and other culture workers, WAWOG hopes to provide ongoing infrastructure for cultural organizing in response to the war.” Hundreds of writers, academics, editors and artists have added their name to WAWOG’s statement.

Also drawing controversy last week, (though certainly on a much lighter note), Nylon published an article about “the It Girls of Literature.” Writes Sophie June,

In the last few years, the traditional literary world has gotten a lot more fun. Parties aren’t just thrown at bookstores that close at 9 p.m. but at punk bars and hotel ballrooms. They have custom merchandise, relevant DJs, and Botox. They’re photographed like celebrity parties. Publications like Forever Magazine, The Drift, and Copy are publishing newer writers and hosting events that feel accessible to people outside of the MFA circuit. It’s a change led by a new class of literary It Girls: savvy writers who are redefining what it means to market a book — and in doing so, tackling the challenges of self-presentation that every artist faces.

…Literary It Girls may have the standard markers of what we think of when we think of an It Girl: they’re beautiful, stylish, and social, with a certain je ne sais quoi. But what really makes them influential is the creative ways they stage and elevate their work — both on the page and in persona.

The article, which focused on the marketing efforts of a handful of young, female writers and editors, drew everything from praise to snarky replies (mostly aimed at the notion of there being an “It girl” in the small-press literary world).

Among the more thoughtful responses to the article were Ryan Ruby’s insights:

At the Brevity blog, Allison K. Williams also had important insights. She writes,

The writers in the Nylon article know their readers want to be part of a cool, enthusiastic community, so they created events that said, “when you hold this book you are part of that community.”

Who is your reader? What do they need? Are they aching for communion, or needing reassurance that solitude is OK? Do they want to feel uplifted or wrung out after reading? What action do you want them to take after they turn the last page? And what relationship do you want to have with them?

The writers in the Nylon article have largely turned away from social media. They’re writing literary, not genre work, and so have less “built-in” audience. But they’ve looked around their community and asked, what do my people need to come together? Turns out it’s what readers have always needed: word-of-mouth, party favors, and the badge of belonging that carrying a book can be.

In the realm of departing magazines, John Freeman has written about the closing of his journal, Freeman’s. He writes,

This month it’s The White Review and The Gettysburg Review. Next month it will be others. This is the way of literary magazine publishing. For every Virginia Quarterly Review or Paris Review, there are dozens if not hundreds of other small journals that open with fanfare, continue for a few issues and then close quietly in the night before the chill has gone off the wine for their launch parties. I’ve lived in New York City almost thirty years and my memory is cluttered with issue parties for little magazines like Open City or Astra, or Black Clock, beautiful journals which are no longer in circulation.

It can make you feel a bit gloomy, unless you accept that like New York City itself, literary magazines are by nature—most of them, not all—meant to be ephemeral.

Relatedly, several people have written to me about other possibly-closing-or-status-unknown lit mags. (Perhaps there should be a Missing board somewhere, for when it seems editors go MIA.) Here is what people are saying:

Red Noise Collective editors have accepted fees from several writers who paid for expedited feedback on their work. The feedback has not arrived and editors and are not replying to inquiries.

Kissing Dynamite has not published a new issue since last February, though the site says they publish monthly.

Phantom Drift hasn’t updated their submission guidelines since 2022.

Do you know the status of these magazines? If so, you can call the Lit Mag News hotline.

Just kidding. There is no hotline. Please just let us know below.

Finally, for those of you who are thinking about reading more lit mags, and possibly wondering why on Earth…?, I had the pleasure of chatting with Better Book Clubs host Kathy Czepiel all about reading lit mags—why it’s rewarding, what you can learn, and how supporting lit mags helps the literary ecosystem. (I also confess that I don’t only read lit mags, and discuss my deep and abiding love for Tana French novels.)

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For those of you on the hunt for work in the lit mag biz:

Identity Theory seeks volunteer editors.

The Paris Review is open for applications for its paid summer internship.

Contingent seeks a guest editor. (Thanks to Erika Dreifus for finding this listing).

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For those of you looking ahead to November submissions:

Sub Club has posted 29 Writing Contests Closing in November.

Poets and Writers’ Lit MagNet for Nov/Dec highlights a few “journals that welcome translated works.”

Erica Verrillo has posted 75 Calls for Submissions in November 2023 - Paying markets and 47 Writing Contests in November 2023 - No entry fees

Authors Publish has posted Nine Exciting New Literary Journals (Fall, 2023) and 30 Magazines Accepting Book Reviews

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As for us, November’s Lit Mag Reading Club will be devoted to The Missouri Review! There is still plenty of time to order the fall issue with the 50% discount for Lit Mag Club participants.

I have not yet finalized the dates for our info sessions and editor interviews for next month. But that will be ready soon, so keep your eyes out for that.

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And that you dastardly demons and heart-stoppingly horrifying goblins of gore, you nurses in fishnet stockings and you vampires with teeth all the better to tear you to pieces my darling, you silly superheroes, you vivacious Vikings full of bon vivant, you Chuckie-inspired cheerleaders and you adorable little angels with a trick or two up your wing, you roaming the night in search of treats and tricks, you deliverers of candy to all the neighborhood’s two-foot-tall werewolves, you with your eyes blinking orange and black, you with flowers in your hair and cat whiskers painted on your face, you in costume, pretending and yet somehow actually more real? in a way? like, is it true that when we hide, in fact our true nature emerges? or maybe our true nature is an ever-evolving thing, always the same, but different, from one whirling witch’s broomstick ride to the next? or do we even have a true nature, like, at all? or, well, who knows? who really knows anything? except, of course, moms, because moms know everything, so have fun, be safe, don’t eat anything not in a wrapper, don’t stay out too late, and that is the news in literary magazines.

Have a happy Halloween, and a great week, pals.

Fondly,

Becky

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