Literary Geography
Written: Sep 24 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: some good up to date literature
Cons: prose is hard to read off a computer
The Bottom Line: online literary rag for those who want to stay current
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| fuche_bu's Full Review: Amarillo Bay Magazine |
I am always seeking out literary discoveries. I can remember feeling good about stumbling onto literary magazines that could keep me up to date on what's new. Now with the internet, it has become even easier. No longer do I have to wait for magazines to arrive in my mailbox everyone three or four months. Now there are online zines devoted to keeping literature alive.
Some time ago, I stumbled onto an online zine called The Absinthe Literary Review. This is a fascinating avant garde magazine. And I love any title that mentions absinthe. Now I have found another online zine called Amarillo Bay. This is also a literary magazine that comes out four times a year. It aims to present the finest in current literature.
It was founded by Jerry Craven and Bob Whitsitt. These two individuals live 2000 miles apart. The name of the magazine is based on their respective homebases. Craven lives in the Texas panhandle and Whitsitt dwells in the Frisco Bay area. Amarillo Bay was born. The first edition was posted in May of 1999. You can check this out if you are on their site. They allow viewers to access all past editions. Amarillo Bay is a quarterly so you can expect new material every three months.
Personally, I like the idea of an online magazine with one major caveat. I find it difficult to read longer prose pieces off a computer screen. It can’t be good for my eyes and it is also unpleasant from an aesthetic standpoint. I could always print out the stories but that would start to defeat the purpose of posting the zine online. In this respect I do prefer a physical product. So there are clearly drawbacks to the web only strategy.
Of course, one great benefit of the online product is that it is free. I don’t have to fork over 20 bucks a year to have four copies mailed to me. I also don’t have to wait for issues to arrive in the mail. Once the new edition is out, I can access it on my computer. Amarillo Bay does accept donations but it is not required. I would recommend that lovers of literature consider a donation should they have some extra funds laying around.
So how is Amarillo Bay formatted? They have three basic sections for the zine. There is fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry. They will post a list of the entries in their contents section. They tend to focus on current poets but I did find a translation of 8th Century Chinese poet Li Po in one of their prior issues. They used the alternative spelling of Li Bai but it is the same poet. I do like the aspect of throwing in translations of poetry into a literary journal. There is an enormous body of work out there waiting to translated into English. Reading translations is necessary since nobody will be able to speak every language.
They tend to utilize many of today’s current crop of poets. Names like Oswald Le Winter pop up in poetry zines throughout the country. Le Winter is featured in the latest edition which came out in August. He has a couple poems featured in the new edition. He utilizes the free verse form and executes it very well. They only have a handful of poems in the issue. A thick print magazine or journal would likely have 20 pages or so of poems. This is another disadvantage of a free online zine. In order to keep it free, they have to keep the material to a minimum.
There are also two poems by Arlene Ang. This is another name that will ring a bell for people who keep up with literary zines. This also means that the majority of people in America will have no idea who it is. I have to admit that I am guilty of this myself. I am about 20 years behind the times with poetry. That is one of the things I like with these magazines. I can try to figure who the better people writing are. The poetry by Ang, like LeWinter, is free verse. That seems to be the standard these days.
Amarillo Bay also features three pieces of fiction and three pieces of creative nonfiction. As I have mentioned it is difficult to read prose on a computer screen. One of the stories was called Angie Gets a Job by Linda Boroff. I am not familiar with Boroff beyond this story. The story deals with Angie who seems to get jobs by crying her way through interviews even without having the appropriate skills and qualifications. The story concludes with her trying to get accepted into a college so she can get a degree required for a promotion. She is crying her way through the interview.
It is an interesting story. I don’t know that I would call it great literature but it has its points of interest. I think there are people like that who are able to fake their way through interviews and life. The story was pretty well written. I didn’t read the other two stories in this issue. This is common for me. When I get literary rags, I often read them over a period of time. It may take me several months to actually read every piece in the magazine.
I read two of the nonfiction pieces. One was “A Note to the Difficult One”: How Reading and Writing a Poem Becomes a Teaching Essay by Wil Hochman. This dealt with a poem called “A Note to the Difficult One” by W.S. Graham. Hochman is struggling to find ways to relate to how students will read this poem. He also tries to examine how Graham went about writing this poem.
The other piece is The Slippery Slope of Meaning by Suzanne R Thurman. I was expecting a right wing dissertation on Bill Clinton which would have been really funny. It ended up being about the value and importance of words. It was dryer than I expected. It deals with the impact of the words we use in life situations. I think a Clinton rip would have made for a funnier essay though.
I have also gone through the previous issues. That becomes a great advantage of literary journals. You have the prior issues right at your fingertips. I have flipped through the previous issues. There are writers and poets that I am vaguely familiar with through other literary magazines. There were a few names that I had never heard of. What I have read is interesting although hardly mindblowing. It is a great interest for a literary fanatic or a person interested in current literature. And although donations are accepted, it is free. It’s worth checking out for the literary person who wishes to keep up to date.
Recommended:
Yes
Accepts Freelance Submissions: Yes
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Member: George Schaefer
Location: West Bristol, PA
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