Mother Jones has an interesting article on the grand tradition of American literary magazines.
After more than a century of founding and subsidizing literary magazines as a vital part of their educational missions, colleges and universities have begun off-loading their publications, citing overburdened budgets and dwindling readership. Despite the potentially disastrous consequences to the landscape of literature and ideas, it’s increasingly hard to argue against. Once strongholds of literature and learned discussion in our country, university-based quarterlies have seen steadily declining subscriber bases since their heyday a half-century ago—and an even greater dent in their cultural relevance.
Now, while most readers get their fiction fixes from books, not lit mags, it’s hard to overestimate the impact of university and independent journals on the direction of American writing. This is where writers go to read. And learn. And build reputations. Now even the glossy magazines aren’t printing much fiction.
Just 17 years ago, you could find fiction in the pages of national magazines like The Atlantic, Elle, Esquire, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, GQ, McCall’s, Mother Jones, Ms., Playboy, Redbook, and Seventeen, and in city magazines and Sunday editions like the Boston Globe Magazine, Chicago, and the Voice Literary Supplement. Not one of these venues (those that still exist) still publishes fiction on a regular basis.
My question: Can we take up the slack? Is there a place for more fiction online, at sites like DogCanyon? We have one wonderful serial, Mary Lowry’s “Henhouse.”
How ’bout more? My own view is, “Absolutely.” Fiction is about opening our imaginations and our hearts. It shows us truths that can’t be reduced to polemic or argument. So, what do ya think?