Litmags' stories longlisted for this year's Journey Prize

The longlist has been announced for this year's $10,000 Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize for best short story by an emerging Canadian writer. (It should be noted how important literary magazines are in bringing these stories to  view.)

• Lisa Alward from Fredericton, NB for "Old Growth" (The New Quarterly: Canadian Writers & Writing) 
• Sharon Bala from St. John's, NL for "Butter Tea At Starbucks" (The New Quarterly) and "Reading Week" (PRISM international)
• Patrick Doerksen from Abbotsford, BC for "Leech" ((parenthetical)) 
• Sarah Kabamba from Ottawa, ON for "They Come Crying" (Room magazine) 
• Richard Kelly Kemick from Calgary, AB for "The Most Human Part Of You" (Maisonneuve) and "The Unitarian Church's Annual Young Writer's Short Story Competition" (The New Quarterly)
• Michael Meagher from Halifax, NS for "Used To It" (PRISM international)
• Darlene Naponse from Naughton, ON for "She Is Water" (The Malahat Review)
• Maria Reva from Vancouver, BC for "Subject Winifred" (The Malahat Review)
• Jack Wang from Vancouver, BC for "The Nature Of Things" (The Malahat Review)
• Kelly Ward from Toronto, ON for "A Girl And A Dog On A Friday Night" (Taddle Creek)

A shortlist will be released on September 13, and the winner on November 14, at the Writers' Trust Awards in Toronto. The winner will receive $10,000; Finalists: $1,000. The publications that first published these stories are also contenders for a $2,000 prize made possible by McClelland & Stewart.

The longlist of 12 stories are to be featured in The Journey Prize Stories 29, available in bookstores September 26. 

Hamilton is home to thriving and competitive scene for online literary magazines

Competition is a good thing; the more the merrier. So the announcement this week that a group of authors is soon launching an online literary journal called the Hamilton Review of Books is a capital G good thing. 

It is to be published by an editorial group is comprised of writers, editors, reviewers, and academics from the Hamilton area. These include: editor-in-chief, Dana Hansen, a writer, critic and professor in the English department at Humber College, where she was editor-in-chief of the Humber Literary Review; senior editors Rhonda Dynes, a writer, reviewer and professor at Mohawk College, Sally Cooper, novelist (Tell Everything) and frequent contributor to literary magazines, Krista Foss, a novelist (Smoke River) whose essay writing has been nominated for a National Magazine Award and Jessica Rose, Director of Programming for gritLIT: Hamilton’s Readers and Writers Festival, a Living Arts blogger for the Hamilton Arts Council, and she writes "Shelf Life," Hamilton Magazine's books column.

Down the street, so to speak, there is the longer-established HA&L magazine (Hamilton Arts & Letters), founded in 2008 by Paul Lisson, Fiona Kinsella, Peter Stevens and Vikram Bondai. The biannual magazine is devoted to presenting new literary works, graphic novel excerpts, exploratory writing, poetry, literary non-fiction, and the work of visual, audio, and film artists. It is operated by a collective who are dedicated to producing a high-quality arts and letters publication, and are committed to supporting an innovative and burgeoning arts community. It is the co-founder of the Short Works Prize for Hamilton-area authors. It is sustained by a paid membership of about 100 individuals. (HA&L had the distinction of being the first digital literary magazine funded by the Ontario Arts Council. )

NōD literary journal comes back to life at U of Calgary

Editor-in-chief Katie O'Brien
[Photo: Jason Herring]

NōD, the undergraduate creative writing magazine at the University of Calgary, suspended for the past year because of funding issues, has been resurrected, according to a story in the student newspaper The Gauntlet

The literary journal will not only publish again this year, but possibly produce three rather than the usual two issues (to acknowledge its hiatus) -- the first of which will be themed about "Gender". The issue launch is Friday 9th at LOFT 112 in the East Village of Calgary.

Associated with the Department of English, but operated independently, the magazine is financed by donations and grants, but all publishing decisions are made by its undergraduate student board. 

The origin of the magazine's name is shrouded in mystery.

“The truth is that none of our current execs actually know what NōD means,” O’Brien says. “One of our volunteers suggested that nodes are like beacons. NōD as a magazine has that function too, to draw artists together. We’re not sure if that’s the original meaning, but that’s what we’re going with for now until we figure it out.”

Longform journalism site Byliner reeling from loss of CEO and key editors

Byliner, the longform journalism website, is said to be teetering on the brink of closing, something that would be a crushing blow to those who felt the internet could be harnessed to provide quality, paid-for, journalism. According to a story on Publishing Executive, the site, which charges its subscribers $5.99 a month, is seeing the departure of well-regarded executives and editors, culminating this weekend with the announcement from CEO and co-founder John Tayman that he was leaving. A story in the New York Observer said

The trouble first became evident when co-founder Mark Bryant, formerly an editor at Outside magazine, who had helped attract well-known writers from that world, including Jon Krakauer and Bruce Barcott, announced he was leaving last month. Then executive editor Laura Hohnhold — who came to Outside after the Times shut down its sports-oriented magazine supplement Play, and then joined Mr. Bryant — bailed on Byliner five days ago.

A contributor said

“My assumption is that people are bailing because the monetization model isn’t working, they’re burning through their startup cash, and either paychecks have stopped coming or people can see writing on the wall.”

OH! Canada issue of HAL pays tribute to George Grant

Seems appropriate for Canada Day weekend to mention the current issue of the online magazine HAL (Hamilton Arts and Letters) HALmagazine.com which is celebrating its 5th anniversary with a special OH! Canada suite of articles, reflecting on Canada's place in the world and including tributes to the somewhat neglected public intellectual George Grant. 

HA&L is a labour of love (as what literary publication is not), principally created by editor Paul Lisson and Associate Editor/Designer Fiona Kinsella of Samizdat Press.  (While the online magazine is free, the biannual online publication relies on memberships, and is able to offer tax receipts through a community partner, Centre[3] for Print and Media Arts.)

The best from Alberta's lit magazines to be read outdoors on August 26

Short stories and poetry from some of Alberta's best literary magazines will be read en pleine air (outdoors to you) at the Olympic Plaza in Calgary on Sunday, August 26 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

Selected by Alberta Magazine Publishers Association members, the works will be read in an event hosted by Calgary's Poet Laureate Kris Demeanor and will feature readings from the likes of Shannon Lee Bennett, Marcello Di Cintio, Jon R. Flieger, Barb Howard, Naomi K. Lewis and Fred Stenson. (In case of rain, the readings will be at the Central Library.)

"Bring sunscreen and mittens -- it's Calgary, after all," say the organizers.

Will e-tailing of short stories hurt literary magazines like The New Yorker?

A blog post published by Publishers Weekly asks whether the advent of short stories sold discretely in the Amazon Kindle Singles store might have a huge impact on literary magazines. 

In particular, Gabe Habash muses whether the e-tailing of short stories might both benefit authors and put weekly magazines like The New Yorker in the shadow of Amazon. 

The blog post looks at the $1.99 cost of the story "The Bathtub Spy" by bestselling novelist Tom Rachman and calculates that, at 40 minute's reading time, it works out as the equivalent value of a two-hour movie. He says that Rachman would have to sell roughly 5,400 copies (at the customary 70/30 split) to make the same money he might have been paid for his story published in The New Yorker. 

If you’re a reader, you obviously get more bang for your buck if you pick up The New Yorker, and you get a lot of quality content surrounding the short story if it turns out you don’t enjoy it. However, if Amazon were to start putting up quality short stories every week (and you could argue they already have), the consumer has the benefit of picking and choosing stories to put down money for every week. If Amazon released a story that didn’t sound good to you, you could just save your money and wait for next week’s story.

Plays well with others -- The New Quarterly and ARC Poetry publish joint double issue

[This post has been updated]
ARC Poetry and The New Quarterly have collaborated on a joint special double issue this summer. The "Quarc Issue" is presented in flipbook style and is literally two magazines in one.

"This special double issue...presents scientists and artists alike with a unique opportunity to observe what happens when two solid, award-winning magazines smash into each other like a pair of star-crossed atoms—and the charm and magic that live at the intersection of the arts and sciences."

There are two, full-colour art features and contributions from Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Christian Bök, Don McKay, Joan Thomas and others.

The venture is also an opportunity to promote subscriptions and people who subscribe to both magazines for $42 receive a 38% discount.
[Update: As made clear from the first comment below, if you want to order a single copy, you need to do so by July 10; because of its size, it is being shipped by parcel post.]

" Mechanical poetry journal" in Toronto vends little broadsides for a toonie

Toronto Poetry Vendors have a launch of their latest (spring 2011 -- it's only a little late) issue at one of the newest installations of their poetry vending machines at Shopgirls gallery boutique in Parkdale,  June 30 at 7 p.m. 

TPV will also be at Clinton’s Tavern (693 Bloor St. W, near Christie Station) on July 9 for the Meet the Presses chapbook market with their portable, travelling machine, lovingly known as Snacks, stocked with the new issue (and possibly some back issues).

Toronto Poetry Vendors is a mechanical poetry journal which uses refurbished gum vending machines to vend twice-yearly issues consisting of 10 single, hand-folded broadsides by 10 Toronto-based poets, purchasable from the machines for a toonie.It is the creation of poets Elisabeth de Mariaffi and Carey Toane.

Buy whole issue or individual articles, it's your choice says Found Press Quarterly

We've happened upon a nifty Q&A with an innovative new kind of wholly digital literary magazine. The interview is on The Literary Type, the blog of The New Quarterly and it puts its questions to the publishers of Found Press Quarterly. FP published its first issue in Januaryand its business model is unusual; you can buy the whole issue content or the stories it contains individually.

What sets us apart is that we are not, in fact, on the shelf at all. We are a one-hundred percent digital publishing company, and our quarterly is available exclusively in eBook format available for purchase through Internet stores such as Kindle and Kobo. Another thing that sets us apart is the fact that we make each story in our collection available for individual purchase. We like to think of ourselves as book version of iTunes. You can buy the whole album, or just your favourite song. 

The Found Press “slogan” is “stories everywhere,” and it works to describe what we do on two different levels. One interpretation is that there is an abundance of talented writers with stories to tell—that stories can be found anywhere, and that they are just waiting to be shared. Another way to think of it, though, is that with the Internet, and especially the rapid development of e-book technology, people can purchase our stories no matter where they are, and read them wherever they want. So while the Internet makes it easy for us to connect with fantastic authors, it is also making it easy for use to tell their stories. The production and distribution frustrations that many (perhaps most) new, independent publishers face no longer apply.

The magazine's editors are Jacqueline Lee Olynyk, a graduate of the Humber College Creative Book Publishing program who has worked as a freelance editor and currently resides in Boston, and Bryan Ibeas, also a Humber graduate who is the marketing coordinator for Cormorant Books, an independent Canadian literary publishers. They mostly use Skype to keep in touch.

The first issue is The Moment We Came Alive and features four authors from three countries -- Cynthia Flood, Danny Goodman, Kirsty Logan and Lana Storey and can be purchased for $3.75. Individual stories are 99 cents.

British online literary magazine Five Dials launches a push-button edition in Quebec

Julie Doucet illustration from the issue

The British online literary magazine Five Dials is launching an edition in Quebec tomorrow. A posting on The Walrus's blog about the event includes a Q & A with the editor, Craig Taylor, a Canadian. An archive of back issues of the magazine are freely available online.

“On the 20th of November we’ll be launching a special Quebec-themed edition of the magazine in Montreal," [Taylor told blogger Jeet Heer.] "We’ll have a laptop at the party and some lucky Quebecker will press the button and send the issue — which features Gil Courtemanche, Leonard Cohen, Julie Doucet, Maddie Thien, Rawi Hage, Oscar Wilde, Alain de Botton, Raymond Chandler, and a lot of translated Quebecois writing.”

The magazine is published by book publishers Hamish Hamilton and seems to come out whenever Taylor can manage it. It is sent as a free pdf to about 15,000 people who have signed up to its mailing list. 

If you're in Montreal, the launch is at la Maison des Ecrivains, 3492 Avenue Laval starting at 7 p.m. Maybe you can be the one to push the button.
 

Taddling down the road: a peripatetic little literary with a big itinerary

Starting a few weeks ago with launch of its summer number called the "Out of Towner Issue" in Toronto, the twice-yearly literary Taddle Creek has undertaken a cross-continent tour to promote itself. 

This is not a small matter for the small, yet spunky, magazine because it is one of those unfortunates left in the lurch by the revisions of the funding requirements of the Department of Canadian Heritage (see previous posts). In round numbers, the magazine says that its funding has thus been cut 40% and its postage costs increased 40%400%. So it, more than ever, needs to increase support from readers far and near.

The Taddle Creek Travelling Series of Happenings has now completed a swing through the Maritimes, with readings and libations in Halifax, Fredericton and Saint John. Next week, on August 2 it's in Portland, Oregon with readings by Michael Christie, Lee Henderson and Catherine McGuire. On August 3 it's in Vancouver, with readings by Michael Christie, Peter Darbyshire, Lee Henderson and Marguerite Pigeon. (Coyly, the itinerary says that fall dates in Montreal and New York are to be announced.)

As an aside, the magazine's reach has been extended with copies being sold in three bookstores in the U.S.: Quimby's in Chicago, McNally Jackson in New York and City Lights in San Francisco. (Of course, people who value such publications could always subscribe to show their support. We understand that, given its financial challenges, the $12 annualrate for two years (4 issues) won't probably stay that way for long.)

Related posts:

• Small cultural mags were cut adrift because they're not businesses
• Barely paid, but roundly educated: Taddle Creek offers unusual internship
• Taddle Creek to war against apostrophe abuse

Quote, unquote: Reading and thinking and wondering about the world

One thing I’ve learned here is that, despite the various narcotics of the web and text messaging and BlackBerries and iPhones, you can still get students to read long pieces—especially if some of those pieces are undeniably compelling. You can get them to think. You can get them to understand that it’s important to step back and wonder at the world, to question what’s happening in the world, to slow down briefly and pause to consider what this mutant rat race is all about. 

-- Bill Reynolds, the head of the magazine stream at Ryerson University, in his excellent article about the unconventional course Journalism and Ideas, which requires second year students to read and discuss two pieces of long-form journalism, mostly long magazine pieces, a week. Originally published in the newsletter of the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies 3:2 (Spring 2009): 18 and reprinted by J-Source.ca.