"Our Focus is Ethical Philosophical Scenarios." A Chat With Kolby Granville, Editor of After Dinner Conversation
Editor of ethics-oriented lit mag takes us behind the scenes
Another interview is in the books, my friends!
Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Kolby Granville, Founding Editor of After Dinner Conversation.
After Dinner Conversation is a (501(c)(3) nonprofit that publishes a monthly short fiction literary magazine. Each issue features both established writers and up-and-coming authors who contribute fascinating philosophical insights on controversial topics like marriage equality, assisted suicide, the meaning of death, animal rights and defining your “purpose.” It’s time to go deep in search of truth!
In today’s conversation, Kolby went into the history of his magazine, the idea of which came to him on the eve of his wedding day! He had little experience with or knowledge of literary magazines and story publishing. However, he knew he wanted to create a space for writers to pose and discuss serious ethical questions. Over the next few months, he launched the journal, began publishing stories and created space for these conversations. Every story published in After Dinner Conversation comes with a handful of ethics-oriented discussion questions.
Since learning of this magazine and its mission I’ve been intrigued. How, I’ve wondered, do the editors decide on a story that poses ethical questions? Don’t all stories, in one way or another, pose ethical questions? Kolby detailed the way the works published in his magazine specifically bring certain problems to the surface. An example he described was a story recently published in the magazine with a kind of what-if quasi-dystopian scenario related to the outlawing of abortion and a mandatory draft among men for child-rearing.
Is the magazine specifically interested in stories that are dystopian or sci-fi in nature? Many of these narratives are, we both agreed, well-equipped to handle the ethical conundrums of our age. But, Kolby said, the answer is no. The magazine is, in fact, inundated with sci-fi stories. What he would actually very much like to see more of are stories with a romance theme, yet which contain exploration of an ethical quandary.
Funnily enough, Kolby used the example of Fifty Shades of Grey as a book that does not provide a kind of framework for ethical questions in the way that certain works of great literature do. To which I replied, “Au contraire!” (I’ve actually never read the book. But not reading a book has never prevented me from having an opinion about it!)
In fact, moral debates that arise from published work are par for the course of this magazine. Kolby said his goal is to get past the noisy and unceasing political jockeying that takes place all around us and to pursue real questions that explore value systems and how those value systems are shaped. On his podcast he and others discuss the stories in each issue, debate the subjects at hand, and dive deeply into the ethical dimensions of the problems presented.
It is not surprising that many of the people who submit to this magazine are philosophers. But all writers are welcome. Kolby described this journal as “a working person’s magazine,” by which he means a magazine that deals with not only abstract ethical problems but the morality of our day-to-day lives and the value systems we bring to all our decision-making.
For writers who are interested in publishing here, what can you do to tease out the philosophical threads of your work? What should you avoid doing in your stories? How are subjects related to contemporary issues best handled for this kind of magazine? And, has Kolby ever seen anyone actually come out of a conversation about a story with their mind changed on an issue?
For all that and much more, you will have to watch the video!
After Dinner Conversation is open for submissions year-round. They publish fiction and nonfiction every month, in print and e-book format.
To everyone who came out to watch the interview, thank you for tuning in! Your faces are the easy joyous answers to all my personal moral quandaries!
And, of course, thank you to Kolby for taking the time to tell us about another fascinating little lit mag.
Happy viewing!
That was a fascinating conversation. I also want to thank you for doing what you do!
I enjoyed learning about this magazine. It's an interesting concept. At first, I was a little put off about "your opinions on unread books" but in all honesty, the majority of people can't help but know of books such as Fifty Shades of Grey due to the movie.
In this instance, I found the movie much more appealing than the book.
Anyway, it's easy to form opinions about novels that we hear about, especially when they're blown up on social media. Thanks for introducing people to this fascinating journal.