Happy Half-Birthday Megan!
Or, These Are A Few of My Favorite Things, The Lit Mag Edition!
(Plus, An Awesome Giveaway. Who Doesn’t Love a Giveaway?!)
Happy spring, all! Or better yet, happy half-birthday to me! I promise I’m not really one of those people who celebrates their half-birthday, but I figured today was as good a day as any to bring you another rousing edition of my favorite things…plus, I’ve got an awesome giveaway for one lucky reader at the end.
1. Lucky Peach
Have you not heard of the brilliant Peter Meehan and David Chang’s quarterly foodie magazine, Lucky Peach?! What are you doing, hiding under a rock?
If it were up to me, I’d do nothing but read food books all day (I’m not going to use the phrase ‘food porn’ because, well, that’s gross). Whether it’s Pat Conroy describing a clambake in one of the most impressive novels of all time, Beach Music (go pick a copy up immediately and thank me later), Anthony Bourdain or Gabrielle Hamilton writing about working as a chef in the kitchen’s trenches or M.F.K Fisher’s delightful prose describing oysters, I will gobble it up immediately. I want to hear about concocting cakes, slaughtering lobsters, scrubbing dishes and recipes involving tears and tarragon.
Lucky Peach is a brilliant combination of recipes, interviews with chefs, and stunning articles on food from far off places. The photos alone are worth spending minutes salivating over. Whether you’re reading about street vendors in Chiang Mai or following David Chang on an eating tour throughout Japan, if you’re a fan of food I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
I’m a bit torn on the whole nineties nostalgia trend that’s currently going on. On the one hand, I could talk for hours about Jordan Catalano (how did I not make that shirt in college?), Weetzie Bat and Weezer’s “Pinkerton” album. On the other hand, I have to admit I’m not entirely thrilled about the potential return of midriff-baring t-shirts or the reuniting of Hanson.
Regardless, what I am pretty thrilled about is Matthew Klickstein’s “Nick of Times” series currently running on Sidesplitter. Klickstein is working on a book in which he interviews all the genius creators, producers, writers and voices behind some of the classic Nickelodeon shows that made up a good chunk of my childhood. My Saturday nights were often spent with my best friend from across the street, ordering a Domino’s mushroom pizza and watching new episodes of Doug, The Adventures of Pete & Pete (back in college, I went to Friendster–remember that?– to find out who sang the opening song, which I once owned as a single on a cassette tape that was a prize inside my Honey Nut Cheerios) and Clarissa Explains it All (my personal favorite of his posts…Who knew Clarissa had her own album, Clarissa and the Straightjackets? And more importantly, how can I score a copy for myself?).
I’ll be the first to admit that I regularly write about my friends and their amazing exploits because a forum is a forum, and we should all be super supportive of each other’s creative endeavors. But I don’t really need to say much about Slice Magazine, since its founders–Maria Gagliano and Celia Johnson–are already making this one of the hottest literary magazines around.
In an age where the internet is infiltrating everything, it’s awesome to see a print literary journal not only survive, but also thrive! Published twice a year (both in March and September), this journal gets interviews with huge heavy-hitters (Junot Diaz, Julia Alvarez, Paul Auster, and Lisa See, to name a few) as well as promotes the works of newcomers.
And that’s not all! Slice hosts excellent classes and workshops, along with their extraordinary Literary Trivia Night, hosted by big names in the publishing world. Their summer 2012 conference (July 20-21) involves top editors, agents and authors sharing trade secrets about topics like how to turn a story into a bestseller, agents advise on how to fine-tune your book pitches, and acclaimed poets help you strategize which publications to target for your submissions.
The details: July 20 and 2, 10:00am – 6:00pm each day (lunch is included)
Where: St. Francis College in downtown Brooklyn
More: Panel Schedule; Workshop Schedule; Literary Participants
For one lucky reader (who must be able to attend the conference), we’re giving away a free two-day spot at the conference (a $300.00 value)! Leave a comment in the space below about your favorite literary magazine that you don’t think I’ve heard of. We’ll notify you the second week of April if you’ve won the grand prize!
Questions? Thoughts? Comments or contributions? Hit me up on Twitter at @mfishmann or follow me on Pinterest and tell me what you love!
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Lesley University’s Commonthought is a labor of love. Like most university-affiliated publications, Commonthought struggles to stay afloat, but my experience as an editor for the magazine in the fall of 2010 taught me just how dire its struggles are. Still, our advisor is one of the best around, and we had enough faith in our product to publish a great magazine. I am proud to say I worked on Commoonthought, and wouldn’t trade my experience there for work at a larger and more prestigious journal.
Lesley University’s Commonthought is a labor of love. Like most university-affiliated publications, Commonthought struggles to stay afloat, but my experience as an editor for the magazine in the fall of 2010 taught me just how dire its struggles are. Still, our advisor is one of the best around, and we had enough faith in our product to publish a great magazine. I am proud to say I worked on Commoonthought, and wouldn’t trade my experience there for work at a larger and more prestigious journal.
Lesley University’s Commonthought is a labor of love. Like most university-affiliated publications, Commonthought struggles to stay afloat, but my experience as an editor for the magazine in the fall of 2010 taught me just how dire its struggles are. Still, our advisor is one of the best around, and we had enough faith in our product to publish a great magazine. I am proud to say I worked on Commoonthought, and wouldn’t trade my experience there for work at a larger and more prestigious journal.
I’ve always liked Literal Latte, but I haven’t seen one of their distro boxes in ages.
I’ve always liked Literal Latte, but I haven’t seen one of their distro boxes in ages.
My favorite food magazine is Edible Manhattan.
My favorite food magazine is Edible Manhattan.