This past weekend The Council of Literary Magazines & Presses sponsored the 11th Annual Lit Mag Marathon Weekend in New York City. Part of this weekend’s festivities included an event on Saturday where editors from selected magazines were available to speak to readers, writers, and lovers alike of literature at the New York Public Library’s DeWitt Periodical Room at 5th Avenue.
On Sunday, the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe held the 11th Annual Literary Magazine Fair, in which the proceeds benefit the Housing Works, a nonprofit organization serving homeless people living with AIDS, and to The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. Each magazine was $2 (a steal compared to how much the retail cost).
The store was filled with readers, writers, regulars, employees of the magazines, college students, and everyone in between.
As a reader, I’ve never read a literary magazine in my life so the options were daunting. The choices ranged from magazines I would actually read versus purchasing a prestigious magazine to have in my apartment to impress folks. I rejected the second reason to buy a literary magazine and opened myself up to exploring based on what genre I read the most: fiction. I found some magazines with poetry, fiction, memoir, and non-fiction which I’m glad I bought. Additionally, I also stumbled upon many straight up poetry magazines and since I don’t read or write poetry, I declined buying those.
I settled on the following magazines:
Alimentum – The Literature of Food
Zahir – A Journal of Speculative Fiction – self- explanatory
Glimmer Train – all fiction!
Narrative Magazine – I receive emails from this magazine and wonder why I have not yet subscribed but I’ve been in love since I read an article about Lorrie Moore months ago.
Epiphany – a journal that enticed me because of the cover and I loved the title!
Reading these will take some time since I am part of a book club, have books to read that I own (and borrowed), and other miscellaneous reading materials. However, I see owning these books to gauge the writing MFA programs produce as well as potential places to submit when I have a piece good and ready.
I look forward to reading actively more and being more productive as a writer. MFA applications are slowly approaching.
For your convenience, I have provided a list of the magazines at the fair. Enjoy.
Absinthe: New European Writing
Alimentum – The Literature of Food
Book/Mark Quarterly Review
Haight Ashbury Literary Journal
J Journal: New Writing on Justice
Literal, Latin American Voices
PALABRA A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art
Poem
The LBJ: Avian Life, Literary Arts
The Same
Zahir – A Journal of Speculative Fiction
