Who Reads Lit Mags? We Do! Spotlight on Granta, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Bennington Review, & Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet

"Now that I’ve spent time reading more lit mags in print, I’m discovering all the positives."

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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Welcome to another installment of our monthly Lit Mag Spotlight.

This is where, on the first Thursday of each month, we share what we’ve been reading in lit mags. I’ve been keeping a list of all works mentioned in this series, including works shared in the comments section, which you can find right here.

This month, I am focusing on print journals. People-pleaser that I am, I sincerely hope that is okay with everyone! Between the holiday hullabaloo and highly addictive, time-draining lure of doomsday scrolling, I needed a break. So I made the conscious effort to be offline as much as possible, an act which especially seemed cozy to me because I was able to read curled up in my armchair, candle lit, festive blanket draped over my legs. (Of course, I couldn’t disconnect from the internet completely—I still kept up with Substack, especially Lit Mag News!)

I know for that some of you, your submissions criteria is that a journal has to be online, which makes a lot of sense. Online journals are more easily accessible, and they are easier to share. It’s just a fact that the stories I’ve written that were published online were read by my friends and family way more than the stories I’ve had published in print. Part of me believes that I’d rather be read than be published in a journal that has prestige (although, you know, another part of me wouldn’t turn down a chance to get published in those high-ranking lit mags!)

Now that I’ve spent time reading more lit mags in print, however, I’m discovering all the positives. Here is something that brought me great joy: discovering what lit mags are available locally. Are lit mags available in your neighborhood? I encourage you all to venture out and see if you can find any, and I would love to hear your responses.

I live in Portland, Oregon, and even though most of my friends are pretty well-read (I actually just got back from an afternoon Book Swap party), everyone I talk to reads primarily books, which is actually the reason why I sought out the Lit Mag News community in the first place. Imagine my delight when I looked around and started noticing all the lit mags available in coffee shops, bookstores, and even libraries when I really started paying attention.

The first lit mag I came across in the wild was at a coffee shop called Oui Presse (this place has delicious soup by the way). At the back of the café are magazines to purchase, and one of those magazines was Granta, issue 169, the China issue. I admit I haven’t read Granta in a long time. Chill Subs describes their vibe as “bother but like, don’t.” The journal was quite expensive (20 bucks!) but I was so excited to find a lit mag at a café that I bought it right away and started reading it that night. And I was completely blown away.

Granta, #169

As you might have guessed, this issue features the writing of contemporary China. Each voice comes from the same place, yet the collective voices reflect a wide range of experiences and viewpoints. One nonfiction essay that truly captivated me was “Adrift in the South” by Xiao Hai and translated by Tony Hao (good news! This one is online too.) The essay is about Xiao Hai’s experience working in big-city factories at the tender age of fifteen.

The writing completely sucked me in—it was full of hooks and descriptive passages that brought every detail to life. I could feel the shock and exhaustion of being so young and enduring such incredibly long hours, but also the fleeting moments of joy and feeling propped up by friends when you need it the most. It was one those rare pieces that had me physically holding my face, completely absorbed in the story. I couldn’t help but feel deeply for this young kid, whose obvious talent for writing stood in stark contrast to the years spent toiling in the factory. There is one line that especially stands out in my mind: “It was a time when, driven by my youthful spirit, I was ready to make some noise – and I wanted to hear that noise echo through the rest of my life.” Reading this essay made me feel lucky to have stumbled upon this journal.

Here is another journal experience I feel lucky to have stumbled upon: McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern. Specifically, issue 64: The Audio issue. This one, my dear friends, is the shit. Of all the literary magazines I’ve written about, this is the one I urge you to seek out most. The Quarterly Concern stands out because it doesn’t follow a fixed format, giving its creators the freedom to experiment in ways that are inventive and incredibly fun.

McSweeney’s #64

I was obsessed with Issue 17—released back in 2005—which arrived packaged to look like it came straight from the mailbox. Then I found issue 64, which was made in 2022, on the bottom shelf at Powell’s. This issue is a collaboration with Radiotopia, where every piece inside the box has an audio component—except for one standout work that explores the challenges and limitations of making projects like this accessible.

My husband, who doesn’t usually care much about lit mags (no shade—it’s just not his thing), got really excited about this one too. He even helped me assemble the scroll apparatus for one of the stories, “Douteflower” by Karinne Keithley Syers, illustrated by Wesley Allsbrook. You feed the scroll through a small cardboard box, and every time you hear a chime in the audio, you move the scroll forward. Pure storytelling magic, and so beautifully designed.

“Douteflower” by Karinne Keithley Syers

I honestly can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this. It’s been out there in the world for two years before I knew anything about it! This issue deserves a billboard. People should be talking about it at the grocery store. When you go to check out, the cashier should ask you: Did you find everything you were looking for? And, have you checked out Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern Issue 64? Each piece is an audiovisual storytelling masterpiece and it will fill your heart with joy.

Another lit mag in print that I really loved reading this month is Bennington Review. In issue thirteen, with the theme of Family Gathering, I read a character-driven short story that has stayed with me: “The Fragrant Conscious World” by Rachel Lyon. Its ending left me torn—I wanted more, yet I completely understood why it had to conclude the way it did. It was abrupt, but undeniably perfect, capturing a realism that refused to force a happy ending.

Bennington Review, issue 13

Here is another plus about lit mags in print: I re-read several of the poems multiple times. Usually, when a piece from a lit mag is quite lengthy, I print it out. I am conflicted about this—I know it wastes a lot of paper, but I feel like I can’t get to the heart of the story if I am not holding the paper in my hands. But it’s rare that I print out poems, because they are usually less than a page.

In a print magazine, everything is right there, for me to peruse again and again. In Bennington Review, I kept coming back to this one poem by Jennifer Hasegawa called “The Fisher-Price of Love.” Not to sound too woo-woo, but the book kept opening to that page, as if I was meant to keep reading it. Let me just share with you the first few lines:

Depending on culture
or random location
someone might say something
comforting or touch you
in a way that denotes
that you have nothing
to worry about. 

The more I read these words, the more deeply it resonated with me. The poem also has two beautiful, thought-provoking questions that quietly echoed in my mind. Questions that brought on nostalgia, and that bittersweet ache of childhood that would have hit differently had I not returned to the poem again and again.

The last journal I’ll mention this month is a repeat: Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. I talked about an earlier issue of this lit mag in one of my other posts, but I just received issue 49, the most current issue, and I love it so much I just have to share.

LCRW, #49

The story that grabbed me was a longer one—clocking in at just under 40 pages, called “Pomegranate Hearts” by Dora Holland. I read it all in one sitting, coming up for air at the story’s last line as if waking up from a dream. The story is a mesmeric, fantastical tale that intertwines the tale of a necromancer with the myth of Persephone and the pomegranate. Its sweeping length allows it to be many things at once, and at the heart of the story is a young woman who has come back from the dead in her wedding gown.

I thought about this story after reading

Blake Nelson

’s Substack post, Death by Literary Journal, which bemoans lit mags that refuse to publish anything but conventional and uninspiring work. I really enjoyed Blake’s post, but I did find myself wishing he knew about Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, which to me serves as an antidote to the stagnation and monotony he critiques.

On the title page, the reader is informed that LCRW can now be read as an e-book via weightlessbooks.com. Also on the title page is this statement: Memorization not expected but applauded.

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So, those are my picks. I’d love to hear what you all have been reading lately, and how you feel about lit mags in print.

Like last time, please note that, while I look forward to reading our Lit Mag Brags each month and seeing what and where everyone has been published, I’d like this to be a resource for what we’re reading, not what we’ve written.

I can’t wait to see what everyone suggests.

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