The most exciting literary magazines being produced right now are being edited by and filled with awesome women. Who needs the old boys’ club?
From George Plimpton's Paris Review, which boosted Philip Roth and Jack Kerouac, to Gen X's PBR-soaked n+1 tomes, small literary magazines and the young men who run them have traditionally played an outsize role in America's cultural conversation. But this decade's new small magazines have made a sharp break from the past. Their topics may vary, but their tone is earnest and inclusive. They're completely comfortable in the new digital medium. They're driving a new intellectual conversation that exists not just at New York cocktail parties, but on Twitter. And they're mostly run by women, a deliberate reaction to a literary boys' club that stretches back pretty much forever. Here are a few that are required reading.
The New Inquiry
Founded in: 2009
Run by: Editor-in-Chief Rachel Rosenfelt (founded with Mary Borkowski and Jennifer Bernstein)
Old-world counterpart: The New Republic
Subscription cost: $2/month
What’s the deal: Although it’s a digital-only publication, it’s clearly the next little heavyweight out of its young counterparts. It accomplishes the rare task of being an intellectual publication that draws regular readers in, without sacrificing any of its intelligence or bent toward academia. “What we want to have happen here is that actual ideas of people no matter what their gender, racial, national, or sexual preference is heard and taken seriously,” said Rosenfelt.
Must read: “Further Materials Toward a Theory of the Man-Child” by Moira Weigel and Mal Ahern. Its theory that male intellectuals come from the same sexist man-child roots as their obviously douchey counterparts blew up the internet.
The New Inquiry
The American Reader
Founded in: 2012
Run by: Editor-in-Chief Uzoamaka Maduka (founded with editor Jac Mullen)
Old-world counterpart: The Paris Review
Subscription cost: $39.99/year
What’s the deal: It’s the most highbrow of the young magazines. Its launch was covered extensively for such a young publication, due in large part to fascination with the charismatic Maduka. Art dealer Larry Gagosian and Paris Review financier Scott Asen were rumored to be funding the publication when it first launched (though Maduka has denied it). “I think people are comfortable being it with a story of personality rather than quality,” she said. "But we've come this far because of what we print and how we print it.”
Must read: "Henrytown" by Chris Erickson — a serialized novel published in the first three issues that would not be out of place on a Princeton syllabus.
The American Reader
Hazlitt
Founded in: August 2012 on web, first issue of the print magazine in November 2013.
Run by: Editor-in-Chief Christopher Frey
Old-world counterpart: Tin House
Subscription cost: $9.99/month
What’s the deal: Started by Random House of Canada as part of a digital-only initiative, Hazlitt uses its big roots well. The publication’s first issue featured a formerly out-of-print article by Christopher Hitchens on Andy Warhol alongside great articles like Emily Landau’s assessment of Christopher Hitches and David Rakoff’s writings on death and New Inquiry contributing editor Sarah Nicole Prickett’s measured take of her ambivalence toward parenthood. The magazine works in tandem with an e-book publishing house. The Atlantic Wire described it as “quality content, a trend we applaud.”
Must read: "How to Succeed in Journalism When You Can't Afford an Internship" by Alexandra Kimball, an essay about an industry in transition. Kimball skillfully assesses the awkwardness and privilege that comes with being a paid writer.
Hazlitt
