Todd and Gigantic (from left: Lincoln, James, me, Annie)
Todd and john wray
terry selucky
April 7, Gigantic was interviewed by Todd Zuniga (Editor of Opium Magazine) for his Opium Live event at Happy Ending. It is a blur now, but what I remember is Annie saying "S&M" in a discourse meant to be illustrative of what we do, and me reaching out to grab the microphone from Lincoln or Jame's hand, and me thinking after, of many witty things I could have said during. Probably tomorrow, I will remember being surprised by other things I do not remember today.
Oh, I do remember being unnerved by Todd's (both ends of whose collar were neatly tucked into his red sweater) question: something to the effect of 'what are the returns for you in starting a literary magazine?' [For clarification on this question, see comments below, or the Gigantic site]. I was not the one with the microphone, but if I was, I would have said, 'We are creating a thing that we like and that we hope will heighten the appreciation of short prose and make it more accessible--some people will like it, others will not.' But I am hopeful. I hope it is more liked than not. And, yes, James's wrist is in a splint, and he does seem proud.
Photos by author Lee Bob Black
2 comments:
The question, to be clear, was: "Four writers running a literary magazine. This is going to cost you either seven short stories or one novel each, at least. What were you thinking, and who's to blame for not warning you away from such a misadventure?"
Point being: is the trade-off worth it? What you'll give up, do you expect it to be worth what you get in return.
The answer is a yes, of course. The ups and downs of running a literary magazine are overall amazing if you stick with it. Once the sizzle's gone. But then that sizzle comes screaming back, at different times.
First, my apologies to Todd for distorting what was a very eloquent and thoughtful question in my hobnailed attempt to get at the gist of it. And I think the question, what do you get "in return" for starting a literary magazine is a very good and apt one because the RETURN is intangible.
The RETURN is not, obviously, monetary remuneration, because if it was, we would have all hung up our boxing gloves long ago (I'm smiling). But SIZZLE cannot be the RETURN either, because that seems beside the point. Or, can it?
The RETURN,for Gigantic at least, has something to do with the appreciation of short prose and art that for some reason or other is unmarketable and therefore inaccessible to more people than not. But it is content that is enjoyed when accessed.
Thus, because of its inaccessibility, there must exist alternative venues for the presentation of this work, such as the publisher Printed Matter was for artists/writers such as Kathy Acker, Sol LeWitt and Laurie Anderson in the seventies. And SIZZLE, while it is fun and exciting, also leads to awareness and thus the accomplishment of our stated purpose. So SIZZLE may be extremely important after all.
So, I would say that while I don't look forward to the demise of the SIZZLE, I look forward to the return of the SCREAMING SIZZLES and plan to make the most of them on their brief cameos.
And this question of RETURNS will have, no doubt, to be revisited... perhaps in a period of demised SIZZLES...
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