Lit Spotlight :: Splash of Red
With the addition of Splash of Red (Asbury Park, NJ) to the NewPages Guide to Literary Magazines, I had a marked increase in e-mails from Editor Dylan Emerick-Brown providing updates – not just of publication content, which is itself impressive, but of several other activities organized by Splash of Red. I asked Dylan if he could give me a snapshot of all of these activities and accomplishments, which he has provided here. Now, I hope you’re sitting down as you read this – because most amazing of all – Splash of Red is celebrating its one-year anniversary. That’s right – all of this is within the first year of publication. And, Dylan tells me, he could add to this on a weekly basis.
Splash of Red is truly a model of what can be accomplished when people are driven by their love of literature and for their community. I know there are many wonderful publications out there participating in similar ways, both in publishing and in their communities. Please don’t hesitate to drop me a line and let me know. Other publications, new start-ups as well as those long-established, could certainly benefit from knowing what others are doing. And it’s to the benefit of us all to encourage more of these activities in expanding and supporting our larger literary community.
From Dylan Emerick-Brown:
In the past year, our first year, Splash of Red has published interviews / articles with or work by:
Pulitzer Prize winner in Fiction Eleanor Strout;
Pulitzer Prize winner in Non-Fiction Diane McWhorter;
Pulitzer Prize winner in Fiction Junot Diaz;
Pulitzer Prize winner in Fiction Robert Olen Butler (free download audio recording);
Pulitzer Prize winner in Poetry & former US Poet Laureate Charles Simic;
Pulitzer Prize finalist in Poetry Sydney Lea;
Former US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky;
Jorge Colombo – the artist whose iPhone drawing made The New Yorker’s cover history;
John Hemingway – author & grandson of Ernest Hemingway;
Mark Vonnegut – author & son of Kurt Vonnegut;
Sue Monk Kidd & Ann Kidd Taylor;
Frank Warren – editor & creator of Post Secret;
William P. Young – author of The Shack;
Arthur Nersesian – “underground” New York City author;
Philip Connors – rising non-fiction author of the critically acclaimed Diary of a Fire Lookout.
Events Organized for the Asbury Park community:
Live reading with Pulitzer Prize finalist in Poetry Sydney Lea;
Live reading with author of Sex with Kings & Mistress of the Vatican Eleanor Herman;
Live reading / Pitchapalooza with author & editor David Henry Sterry;
First art exhibition of Danielle Lovallo;
Live reading with author of Me and Orson Welles Robert Kaplow;
Live Skype event featuring Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish post-screening of the film;
Live reading with Pulitzer Prize winner in Fiction Junot Diaz
(7/18) Live Skype event featuring Pulitzer Prize winner in Fiction Robert Olen Butler.
Splash of Red organized a public mural project on the Asbury Park boardwalk. Three local artists were chosen to select three poems published on the website and create a piece of art inspired by a stanza. This unique marriage of literature and art will be revealed July 4th weekend. Additionally, Pulitzer Prize winner in Fiction and New Jersey local Junot Diaz lent a quote – the only he has ever written about the Jersey boardwalk – from a currently unpublished book that will be painted as the fourth panel in the overall mural. The mural itself will be painted on the eastern front side of the historic Asbury Park steam plant. Featured artists are Porkchop, Jeff Allen and Joey Parlett. Featured poets are Anthony Alessandrini, Catherine Owen and Tom Faure.
Other literary experiments include the revealing of a previously unpublished rough draft of a poem by Pulitzer Prize finalist in Poetry Sydney Lea alongside the finished published version for educational value.
We took a poem from poet Anthony Alessandrini and a piece of art from artist Joey Parlett. Each was given the others’ work and from that, created a piece of art all their own inspired from the others’ artistic medium. The result was a poem inspired by art and art inspired by a poem in a fascinating controlled experiment.
Lastly, we have published many emerging and well-known authors of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, artists and graphic narrative illustrators. This has all been accomplished in the past year, July 3 being our one-year anniversary. This has been made possible through hard work, dedication and a passion for bringing quality work to those who appreciate it. We are more than simply an online literary magazine. We are a literary experience.
In case you were wondering, our title comes from these three inspirations: 1) the infamous red ink in draft after draft to get the best quality writing, 2) the blood and passion that goes into only the most skillfully crafted art, and 3) great work stands out just like a splash of red.
