The Little Magazine and the Little Book, 1912-2012

Poem in Your Pocket Day

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The Land Line

I recently came across an independent newspaper called The Land Line that shares a lot in common with the independent publications we have been talking about. The Land Line is a “free quarterly journal for work that’s raunchy, flamboyant, interdisciplinary, and intellectually rigorous.” They print several different types of material, including poetry, prose, essays, drawings, comics and photographs. The Spring 2012 issue centers around a theme – in this case compost and decomposition – but the editors make sure to point out that this is not always the case. Indeed, their title page has much in common with the information page that we saw in Poetry magazine. Robin Hustle, the editor, tells us that “Everyone is welcome to submit to the paper” and “The paper is put together by a loose, open collective in Chicago with contributors from everywhere and distribution in as many cities as we can afford to send papers to.”

Despite the obvious material differences between Poetry and The Land Line, they share an interest in freedom of expression, distribution and open policies. One fundamental difference is their approach to advertising and revenue production. While Monroe actively sought out influential people (or at least wealthy people) to contribute to the magazine, The Land Line prefers to raise money through community events. They say “We say no to advertising, and yes to funding the paper through community events, which are as much a part of the project as the paper itself.” Is this then the future of the independent publication? In a time when advertisements seem the easiest way to make money, are community events the only socially responsible way to remain solvent?  —Nikki

Publishers FAQ - CLMP

Craphound

A favorite magazine of mine is Craphound, which I randomly picked up at Quimby’s once. While once very small, the zine has grown to be pretty popular, and has crossed that blurry line from zine to magazine. Craphound is composed entirely of images culled from advertisements, other magazines, and found material, and is edited solely by Sean Tejaratchi. I have the latest issue, “Superstitions,” which is filled with images of black cats, rabbit feet, etc., organized by theme.

According to the wiki, this is usually used as a design resource, but there’s still a reason Craphound takes the form of a zine and not some other sort of resource. What happens when a zine is made up entirely of images? How do we then measure editor influence and content progression? To what extent does literature lay claim to the content of small publishing?

Also, a few good sites to know:

Reading Frenzy is also a good place to find zines and chapbooks of all kinds.

ZineWiki is what it sounds like: a wiki for zines, and is therefore very helpful.

-Jordan

Fold your own zines!

Clark Coolidge, “A Little Magazine History”

In Joglars 3 (1966):

A Little Magazine History

as a slow accumula striped mirror
not so simple. Toon the shoulder
insatiable of light singing
skin-tight for his proud flesh
Forthright.     eating eggs
Read Dante with a vast gap
we tossed coins & fat ox too even
is monument to is that in the West
I said:         each high tide
Heads up to the teaching of
the sky is again mouth to mouth
to die. I turned turning       how to
subtly impish & you would be
he & the other of one color
“What will I do with pressures of
lightning over all cigarette &
Including Turban this last year
My mother saw him the coldness of
when itchy mustache I am a child of
with little black in the corner by
dirtiness L E F T     just that place
jewels innocent haunting the mist
counterfeited in When you’re tired
T H E Y  S A Y         Circa anytime
hunting deer in what doesn’t the
died at his child then at the throat
they do strike on dismemberment even
across in the field tasting its strut
commonplace, as for the enlightened
season out of sin the course of
I’ll slip away be in a green flame
off in Wisconsin thru dark
men in sand wading pay me off, savages
& tongues         A boar might get
hand to hand     2nd the care of
there are bodies   Time to break ear
field of grass, with reverence &
bright descending without image
We eat ourselves limited supply of

Found via Isola di Rifiuti.  —Stephanie