The Little Magazine in Contemporary America

by Ian Morris (Editor), Joanne Diaz (Editor)

Little magazines have often showcased the best new writing in America. Historically, these idiosyncratic, small-circulation outlets have served the dual functions of representing the avant-garde of literary expression while also helping many emerging writers become established authors. Although changing technology and the increasingly harsh financial realities of publishing over the past three decades would seem to have pushed little magazines to the brink of extinction, their story is far more complicated.

In this collection, Ian Morris and Joanne Diaz gather the reflections of twenty-three prominent editors whose little magazines have flourished over the past thirty-five years. Highlighting the creativity and innovation driving this diverse and still vital medium, contributors offer insights into how their publications sometimes succeeded, sometimes reluctantly folded, but mostly how they evolved and persevered. Other topics discussed include the role of little magazines in promoting the work and concerns of minority and women writers, the place of universities in supporting and shaping little magazines, and the online and offline future of these publications.

Selected contributors
Betsy Sussler, BOMB ; Lee Gutkind, Creative Nonfiction ; Bruce Andrews, L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E; Dave Eggers, McSweeney’s ; Keith Gessen, n+1 ; Don Share, P oetry ; Jane Friedman, VQR ; A my Hoffman, Women’s Review of Books ; and more.

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2015

Reviews

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for school. My professor did not have us read it cover-to-cover, though, but we read the majority of the chapters, so I decided to include it as a "read" book.

I am glad that I read it as I got a look at what it takes to start and maintain a literary magazine (harder than I'd expected). I think the chapter that I enjoyed the most was "Summoning the Bard: The Twenty-First-Century Literary Magazine on the Web. A lot of the chapters were hard to understand and didn't click with me, but this one was much easier. I enjoyed reading about digital lit mags. The author of that chapter brought up some really interesting points!

Overall, didn't love it, but it was a great, general introduction for me into the publishing and the lit mag world.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to learn about the literary magazine in America, look no further than this book! I was assigned this in my The Publishing Industry elective for my MFA (yeah, I'm one of those crazy people who decided to do an MFA after the pandemic), and I really enjoyed it. Some essays are better than others, of course, but I learned a lot. Recommended!