We lost electricity in our wind-powered apartment complex during Snowpocalypsalooza, as did 80,000 others in Montgomery County. We survived in spite of the irony, even though we’ll never get those 6 unproductive days of our life back. Once our internet was restored, though, we did a whole lot of surfing:
-I had never heard of Ted Gioia until I read his stellar “Notes on Conceptual Fiction” (second post down). Maybe it’s because I’m “teaching” a class that uses science-fiction to teach composition, but I couldn’t agree more.
-For the sake of God, do yourself a favor and read Rion Amilcar Scott’s incredible “Facts on the Occasion of Black History Month” over at PANK. My favorites: 5, 9, 23,26.
- Speaking of Pankish things, our copy of #4 was ruined by the dang snowstorm. After tweeting our frustrations with the USPS, the lovely Roxanne Gay (who I’ll probably be raving about for the next 77 years, especially after reading her story in Artifice) sent us a new one. We promised to give them something extra special when we run into them at AWP.
-Speaking of AWP: we’ll be there! We couldn’t afford a table, but we can’t wait to annoy the ever-loving crap out of everyone who does.
-I smoked a cigarette with New York Times book reviewer Walter Kirn, because I’m the man. I’d be surprised if I ever share a cigarette with someone as mind-bogglingly brilliant as Kirn ever again. Instead of repeating the gossip he told me about a certain critic at the New Yorker, I’ll share his response to Richard McCann’s question about what brand he smoked: “Brand loyalty? Brand loyalty is proof that you aren’t addicted. Real addicts buy whatever’s on sale.”
- We purchased a classified ad in this (and next) month’s Poets and Writers. Even though we paid for the privilege, we’re still giddy to be on the pages of a publication we’ve been reading for years.
Somebody give me a high-five for getting this post up before noon.
(Every month, BL will highlight a journal that doesn’t receive nearly as much recognition as it should. Our goal is to raise awareness for these publications, while building a better sense of community between editors and writers.)
A few days after Laura and I launched our site, we drove south to stop by the Richmond Zine Fest, which was held during the First Friday Art Walk in November (if you live in the area and haven’t made it to one of the First Friday events, you should. A fantastic experience. Be sure to grab a taco outside of Gallery 5). We didn’t expect to run into any fellow editors, nor were we prepared to– our goal was to buy $40 worth of photocopied zines. Up the punx.
Lo and behold, the folks at Makeout Creek had a table upstairs. I was in shock, sort of. I had stumbled onto their website a few weeks earlier, armed with a story I never submitted. I tried to tell the dude at the booth (whose name I didn’t catch) that I was aware of their publication, but I was too baffled that our paths had crossed to say anything noteworthy. Nonetheless, I happily forked over a few bucks for the most recent issue.
Makeout Creek was the first independent literary journal I ever purchased. Holding it makes my insides go gooey. I don’t think I’d feel that way if the issue wasn’t one of the bests I’ve ever read.
I’m particularly impressed by the layout of Makeout Creek. There’s great variation in the artwork in #3: found objects, sketches, photography. Each image compliments the text, often in very cryptic ways. The 3-column design really illuminates the prose. It’d like to think that if every editor at The New Yorker mysteriously disappeared and were replaced by a collective of VCU art students, the resulting issues would look like Makeout Creek. The only real difference is people would actually enjoy reading it, instead of just pretending to.
It’s impossible to deny that this magazine isn’t a product of Richmond (as made evident by the ripped-up confederate currency and Michael Mehan’s “Old Virginia,” a short, but brilliant zombie screenplay).. Some of the strongest work, however, isn’t regionally-specific. Ryan P. Young’s “An Elegant Courtship”, Liz Mandrell’s “Behold, A Thousand Sticks” and Kristen Elliason’s “Yours”all left me feeling restless enough to pace around the bedroom. Smith Henderson’s “Triumphs of Natural Selection” left me feeling sympathetic towards a public figure I couldn’t stand, while simultaneously highlighting the irony of he death. Mike Powell’s “It’s Not Your Fault, Cuba Gooding Jr.”
(As a white kid from New York City whose seen Boyz N The Hood enough times to recite it verbatim, I think it’s important for me to say this. No one can really claim they foresee these sorts of roles from Cuba. Think about some of the things tre does after he moves in with Furious: he works at a high-end fashion store in the mall, he lies about baggin’ women, he restores a glorified VW bug, asks Doughboy to let him out the car, and cries after being accosted but subsequently released by a corrupt police officer. My point? Even in his hardest role, Cuba was a mark-ass buster.)
Our point: we’ve buried our heart at Makeout Creek. You probably should, too.
There are a number of advantages of using print-on-demand services, but we didn’t account for what I consider the most brilliant, wonderful invention of the digital era: coupon codes. Every time we’re alerted of Lulu’s discounts, we’ll post them here. Folk the system.
In honor of Groundhog Day, Lulu is offering 15% off any order placed before February 4th. So, if you haven’t picked up Big Lucks #1 yet, head on over and save yourself a whole $1.20. If you’d like to bundle up for shipping’s sake, why not check out Erik Stinson’s I Am Happy That You Are Grappling With My Life Choices. I haven’t received my copy yet, but I’ve watched Menthol University Press’s Sorry I Like to Party preview about twenty times now and it gets better with every viewing.
Coupon Code: SHADOW
Honestly, I haven’t paid attention to Groundhog Day since The Rangers won the cup. I got sick of the little bastard lying to me.
Anyway, if you’ve already picked up BL#1, you should probably get another. It’s the tits, we swear.
it’s the first of the month.
For the last month or so, I’ve tried to make a long-winded preamble about our sense of community in the literature scene, about how it’s our responsibility to stay in touch with one another and share information and blah blah blah. Since I’ve hit a stalemate every time I tried to do such a thing, I figured it’d be best to hit the ground rolling. Here’s a bunch of things you should know already.
-after a fun-filled month of formatting, we’ve finally released Big Lucks #1 and have made it available for purchase. Get your hands on it and burn through it in one sitting.
-DC’s Call + Response is one of my favorite exhibits ever, and the opening was jam-packed. there were some really fantastic works of literature hanging on the walls, particularly by Christian Howard and Casey Wiley. It’s open until February 13th. You should give it a look-see.
-Ted Genoway, editor of Virginia Quarterly, wrote a seemingly-misinformed, pessimistic editorial about the fate of literature (how ground-breaking!); Roxanne Gay of PANK Magazine rebutted by saying everything I was thinking, and then some.
-Kyle Minor wrote the single most important piece of journalism on Haiti, if you ask me.
-Giancarlo DiTrapano, Ken Baumann, & Blake Butler collaborated this list of do’s and don’t for writers in 2010 at the Vice blog. If you take it too seriously, don’t write.
-You can now pre-order a copy of What’s Your Exit? A Literary Detour through New Jersey for Word Riot Press. Something about this excites the ever-living hell out of me, even though I’ve never had the inclination to set a story in Jersey.
-Bookslut has been one of my favorite places on the web for years now, but Courtney Queeny’s feature on carpe diem poems is mind-bogglingly awesome. The payoff really comes in the last few paragraphs, so stick with it.
-The idiot I am, I’m only now discovering the genius of Gary Lutz in Calamari Press’s most recent edition of Stories in the Worst Way. I can’t believe how ahead of the curve the guy was, in almost every element- the sentence, structure, the subject matter, the length. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’d never read him before. Check it out, if you haven’t in the last 14 years.
We’re a few hours a way from e-mailing every one we know and telling them about Big Lucks. I’m very nervous, but I don’t know why. It’s like when you invite your friends over to see your baby for the first time– you know your kid’s adorable, and you know your friends are going to tell you they think it’s adorable– you just want them to mean it.
Happy Monday, and god bless the district.
We at Big Lucks are looking for some mind-blowing art for our first issue, and want you to send us your stuff. Please read the guidelines on our submission page and see if your work fits what we are looking for, then send it to editors[at]biglucks.com.
Who knows, you may even end up on the cover!
