Wednesday, August 05, 2009

new genre } no. 6: it sings----



new genre no. 6 is 4 new stories--horror + science fiction--by stephen graham jones, eric schaller, michael filimowicz, + matthew pendleton, plus the essay "a sing economy" by adam golaski. the essay title is no coincidence, as golaski (me) is "the lazy half" of flim forum press, while he's also new genre: editor, publisher, etc. the essay takes up the the idea of a poet economy--as a number of us flim poets discussed (in part via poems--check out "a sing economy symposium")--+ pairs that with "the current state" of short fiction. golaski writes:
Every article I've read about the current state of the short story sets its focus not on the short story as a literary form but on the short story as a product nobody wants to buy.... Blame publishers, then blame editors, then blame writers, and not the other way around. Reader complacency may be impossible to overcome, but it will never be overcome if the only fiction on offer is pablum (and to bring it back to publishers, of the only fiction promoted is pablum).

I make this bold statement confident that the fiction in new genre no. 6 is very good, worthy of promotion and of your attention. of especial interest to poets will be the two science fiction stories, which emphasize language over sense (tho both make a wild + fantastic kind of sense).

the cover--see the front/back spread up top--was designed by jeremy withers, who also designed oh one arrow. as a result of jeremy's work, new genre no. 6 is a beautiful object.

"In speaking to the need for new forums and a greater seriousness, New Genre is extremely welcome. I support the journal whole-heartedly." ----Peter Straub

"...I think this magazine has the potential to really stick its thumb in the eye of literary snobbery." ----Jennifer Gomoll

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