Who Reads Lit Mags? We Do!

Spotlight on Alice Says Go Fuck Yourself, Bullshit Lit, Taco Bell Quarterly, Disappointed Housewife, and Bitchin’ Kitsch

Welcome to our weekly column offering perspectives on lit mag publishing, with contributions from readers, writers and editors around the world.

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Hello, Lit Mag News readers, here is the latest edition to the monthly series where we share essays, poems, and stories we’ve been reading in lit mags. I’ve been keeping a list of all of the recommendations from my posts and from the comments, which you can find right here. I’ll update this Bibliocommons list on an ongoing basis with all of the works suggested from this month, so we can be sure to keep track of what we’ve been reading and recommending.

There is a lit mag that I love, and I think is especially keen for November, especially because it just came out with a new issue. It’s called, Alice Says Go Fuck Yourself. I first heard about it via Lit Mag’s News Post 34 Brand New Literary Magazines! and that title has stuck in my head ever since.

I can’t be the only one that feels more than a little angsty in November. November, in my mind, is synonymous with novel-writing because of National Novel Writing Month, which is usually truncated to the adorable NaNoWriMo, a challenge based around completing a 50,000 word novel by the end of the month. In the past, I have tried this challenge, and I have failed each year. I just think that November is the worst time of year, especially because I live in the Northern Hemisphere where the days are too short and getting shorter.

And then of course there is Thanksgiving looming at the end of the month, which for me means two days spent traveling on an airplane with a toddler. When we arrive, there is all the family I am supposed to be engaging with, especially because I have come all this way to see them. I try really hard to focus on topics that make for pleasant conversation, and also it makes me sad to talk about all the writing I have yet to publish, and everyone is tired of my plea that we have frozen pizza on Thanksgiving, even though I continue to say that the traditional Thanksgiving spread is archaic when considering gender roles, not to mention the holiday’s problematic myth… and in the midst of all that, I’m supposed to be writing like mad on my novel?! Alice Says Go Fuck Yourself.

Alice Says Go Fuck Yourself, issue 8

First published just 2 years ago in 2022, Alice Says Go Fuck Yourself is a beautiful, anti-establishment breath of fresh air. Are they allowed to have a title like that? Well, they do. And if they are gutsy enough to have a title like that, are they gutsy enough to publish now that they have people’s attention? Their seventh issue was based around “Badass Mamas,” and I truly loved their note from the editors:

We dedicate this issue to all the badass moms, everywhere. We especially dedicate this issue to the moms who are facing illness, poverty, abuse, harm, violence, oppression, degradation, war, loss of their children, abduction of their children, murder of their children, or genocide — or any combination of these things — and are still doing their best to mother.

I think this quote demonstrates the heart of this magazine, and the readings in here are well worth your time and attention. My favorite part about this issue is the poetic quiz at the very end. Being a child of the 90s, I grew up taking quizzes in Seventeen Magazine, dutifully writing down the letters of each of my answers and counting up to see what kind of fashion style suited me best, or what my perfect, afterschool hobby should be. This lit mag’s quiz takes it to the next level by gifting you with choices that are bizarre and lovely and satisfying, as you puzzle out Which Kind of Badass Mom Are You?

The lit mag’s season 8 just dropped October 20, and let me tell you it is a thing of beauty. The theme is Ethan Hawke, and right there on the cover it invokes Ethan Hawke’s Ted Talk Give Yourself Permission to Be Creative, about how expressing yourself, even playing the fool, has power because it goes against the machine of capitalism. It seems like a jokey thing to do to devote a whole issue to just an actor, but I think it goes so perfectly with their can-they-do-this, is-this-allowed vibe.

One of the most memorable pieces from this issue for me is a poem called The Knives of No Movement by DS Maolalaí, a poem that perfectly captures the dreariness and heaviness of a morning commute, which is something I can relate to so strongly (especially the line: “in dry countries this/ is a beautiful season, but it never dries out/ around here.” And I’m not sure if I was supposed to but in my head I heard it being read in the voice of Ethan Hawke himself, and the way he emphasizes words in just the right way.

Here’s another lit mag with an in-your-face title: Bullshit Lit. Would you ever submit to a lit mag called Bullshit? I like to think of myself as edgy, but it’s hard enough as it is to get my friends and co-workers to read my stuff. But the title of their lit mag piqued my curiosity, and I found their online presence to be delightful and incredibly reader-friendly, because of the way the text appears as you scroll down.

One poem in particular I recommend is canonization by Chloe Wheeler (note: Bullshit Lit does not capitalize their poems). This poem hooked me by the first line: “oops! I lost my silver hoop,” because not only does it begin with an evocative interjection, it is so pleasing to recite out loud due to the way the first and last word echo each other. A hedgehog also darts in and out of this San Sebastián poem, first as a heart, then as a man. 

From the Bullshit Lit homepage

Taco Bell Quarterly may not have any swear words in its title, but there’s no denying the boldness of evoking a fast-food franchise while asking to be taken seriously. Out of all the magazines I have listed in this post this month, I am most interested in hearing an interview from M.M. Carrigan, the “Editor Grande Supreme,” about the origin of this lit mag and the wild submissions they have received over the years. Also, have they ever gotten a cease-and-desist letter?

I am surprised about the poem I am recommending from this lit mag: EVERYONE I HAVE EVER KISSED THINKS ABOUT ME ALL OF THE TIME AND IS IN LOVE WITH ME by Hilary Kaufman, because I usually, as a rule, do not like works written in ALL CAPS because it brings back too many bad memories of people shouting on chat boards and AOL Instant messenger pop-ups. But I love this poem. The voice begins evocatively with a sense of vulnerability, like a prayer to the universe, and escalates into an assertion of self-worth and power, but then takes a dark turn with the relentless repetition of “I SWALLOW EVERYONE.” I also find it interesting that, although this poem in all-caps appears to be shouting, it feels like a poem meant to be read, especially the way it cuts off in mid-line, which is more effective on the page than in person (or perhaps someone like Ethan Hawke could pull it off?)

Taco Bell Quarterly, Volume 7

Another lit mag with a gutsy title is The Disappointed Housewife. The editor, Kevin Brennan, describes it as a place for “high-risk writing,” which I also think would make for a worthy lit mag title. A poem from Disappointed Housewife that stuck with me is It was the time I could and couldn’t (a villanelle) by Samantha Moe.

A villanelle, which you might already know, is a form that emphasizes repetition and structure, which adds to this poem’s theme of feeling trapped in cycles. In a villanelle, two lines (the first and third) are repeated alternately at the end of each stanza, then brought together in the final couplet. Here, the lines “You know how this goes” and “I’ll disappoint you again” echo in a haunting, circular pattern, underscoring the inevitability and recurrence of the speaker’s feelings, compounded by the line “All I have left for you are repetitions.”

What stood out to me the most was how perfectly this poem complements the magazine, as if this piece found its true home. Often times, when I read lit mags, I wonder what the “flavor” of this particular lit mag is, and why they chose one piece over another. But I truly get the feeling that Disappointed Housewife knows exactly who they are, and what they want to publish.

From The Disappointed Housewife homepage

Lastly, a lit mag I’m excited to talk about is The Bitchin’ Kitsch, which also just came out with its Autumn 2024 issue. The B’K, as the magazine calls itself, prioritizes “traditionally marginalized creators,” and one thing I appreciate about this magazine is that it includes trigger warnings. Spotlight on this issue’s incredible nonfiction piece, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting Someone Else’s Baby” by Amy Bleu.

In this fluidly written essay, the author is intimate, creating a sense of friendship through her candid reflections. Bleu’s essay grapples with the complexities surrounding perceptions of giving up a baby, emphasizing the struggle of communicating true experiences amidst the clamor of others’ expectations and the persistent false narratives that give way when asking the wrong questions. I found the details of a surrogate mother giving birth to be incredibly engrossing, but I also had to read it over a second time to fully make room in my brain for the honest and valid emotional journey that Bleu recounts.

The Bitchin’ Kitsch, vol. 15, issue 4

So, those are my picks. I can’t wait to hear what you all have been reading too. 

As I’ve said in previous posts, please note that while I look forward to our Lit Mag Brags each month and seeing what and where everyone has been published, this is a resource for what we’re reading, not where we’ve written. 

Feel free to share any and all works from lit mags, and I’ll add them to the list! 

What have you read lately?

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