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Writers conference

Conversations and Connections will feature over 30 editors from the most respected literary magazines on the market today. This is a special opportunity for Washington, DC area writers who want to take the next step in independent publishing, literary magazines, online publishing, comic books, poetry, and more. The $35 registration fee includes the full day conference, face-to-face “speed dating” with editors, and a subscription to a literary magazine of choice. To register, please visit http://www.writersconnectconference.com.

Scene New: Lit Mags

One of the benefits of attending AWP is getting to meet and discover “new” lit mags on the scene. As saddened as we so often are to hear of magazines folding under economic or other life constraints, it is at the same time with great joy that we see new mags crop up, with invigorated, often “youthful” labor, and somehow enough change in their pockets (or foraging skills) to get the publication started. Who knows where these fresh starts may end up; no doubt some of the long-standing lit mags have staff who remember their start-up days — before they went glossy, before they went 501c(3), before the .com, before finding a comfortable hold within academic walls, or perhaps after leaving academia behind… A smattering of new mags offering an infusion of hope include:

Alehouse, San Francisco, CA. Editor Jay Rubin, Contributing Editors Edward A. Dougherty, Kake Huck, and Gary Lessing.

Cannibal, Brooklyn, NY. Editors Matthew Henriksen (also of TYPO) and Katy Henriksen.

Cave Wall, Greensboro, NC. Editor Rhett Iseman.

New Ohio Review or /nor, Ohio University, Athens, OH. Managing Editor John Bullock.

Short Story, Columbia, SC. Editor Caroline Lord.

We wish these newbies the best in their endeavors, and hope to see them continue to grace our pages.

Roger, roger!


Another lit mag face lift – er, name lift: roger, an art & literary magazine is the former Calliope (of Ampersand Press), still based out of Roger Williams University. While the current editorial staff remarks that “we will avail ourselves of the Internet with our Web site,” the site has yet to be “launched” (what’s there now isn’t much…). Still, the publication is “committed to hard copy,” so it would seem it’s just a matter of getting name, web space and print publication to fuse as one for this publication to become fluent in its efforts. For NewPages users, the sooner on the web presence, the better!

Meena at AWP

Like most of those who attended AWP in Atlanta (Feb. 28 – Mar. 4), I’m still in hangover mode – and it has nothing (or at least little) to do with alcohol. My mind is still spinning with memories of meeting dozens of people, from teachers to publishers, students in MFA programs to published authors, and so many, many people who just wanted to stop by and say “Thanks” to NewPages for the work we do (likewise – I’m sure!). Yet, now sorting through my two boxes of lit mags to get listed, the first one I pulled out was one that most impressed me among new publications: Meena.

What makes the mag a standout is very concept of it: English/Egyptian works both in their original language and in translation (half the pub is English, the other half Arabic), with art throughout. From the pub site: “The word ‘meena’ means port, or port-of-entry, in Arabic, and that is exactly what we would like Meena to be: a port between our cities, our countries, our languages, our cultures. ‘We’ are a group of writers and artists based in the port cities of New Orleans and Alexandria but from all over the United States and Egypt (and beyond) who want to share our work with each other and with you.”

Given the global climate, this is a publication well worth checking out and including in course reading lists, library collections and just passing around the cafe.