The Drift is bad and Hobart Pulp looks gross so I refuse to read it. Are there any independent lit mags that are actually good or at least interesting? >don’t suggest & let’s be serious pls
You want a serious answer, I'll give you a serious answer>GrantaObviously >The Stinging FlyIrish magazine, think midway between the NYer and Granta. It's found some good writers in recent years>DIAGRAMIf you're into poetry you should read this regularly>BOMB MagazineArt/cultural criticism/artist interviews with a good fiction section. I read this regularly>JoylandThis one's on the cutting edge of the new fiction -- woke-weary, savvy, heavily influenced by contemporary/pomo European writers, interested in how the internet mediates our relationships with others. I read this regularly>Heavy TrafficNew magazine, just popped onto the scene. Edgier than Joyland but shares many of its preoccupations. I read this regularly>Words Without BordersI read this sometimes. I think it's good to try to keep up with what's going on in contemporary literature outside of the US>AsymptoteI read this sometimes. Also a magazine devoted to contemporary literature in translation. Generally better taste than Words Without Borders>LibertiesI read this sometimes. Essays on art, culture, and politics alongside poetry. It's the magazine for the wealthy, cultured liberal who likes Bach, knows who Pynchon is but hasn't read him, and who pays attention to the Pulitzer Prizes. Usually too earnest and polite for me, but its poetry's pretty good and sometimes the essays about specific artists/writers/etc are fascinating
>>25347335(These magazines are just a little outside of "establishment" contemporary literary fiction. I assume you already know NYer/Paris/POETRY. I don't really pay much attention to the ecosystem of university literary journals, most of them are too identitarian, safe, and unambitious -- same criticism for the ecosystem of loud and proud woke contemporary lit, places like The Adroit Journal, The Offing, Bat City, etc. I'll make a small exception for The Yale Review, and tee bee haitch Adroit's poetry is pretty good. Also I forgot to say>FENCEwhich is nominally dedicated to avant-garde lit but in practice most of it's just okay. Their publishing imprint's neat though. It's also needlessly hard to subscribe to it, for some reason.)
>>25347335Ok thank you very much. Did not expect an in depth answer so soonWill say that I’m not a fan of granta after the whole AI thing but otherwise I will look into these
>>25347353No prob anon happy to help>Will say that I’m not a fan of granta after the whole AI thing That was fucking hilarious lmfao. No clue why Granta didn't immediately disavow and condemn, but it's still the premier English-language litmag imo
>>25347357I think I agree, still embarrassing for them but I guess it still isn’t fair to the actual contributors to just write it off bc the people who run it are ass
>>25347359Yeah, I get what you're saying. Commonwealth Prize is now pretty suspect. (Also, fuck, forgot to mention Forever Magazine. This is excellent, in the same universe as Joyland/Heavy Traffic.) I expect AI usage in the litmag world to continue as AI improves, would bet good money that it's already in many mags just undetected
literary magazines are all trash.
>>25347307First post more or less said what I'd suggest and more. Only thing I can add is that if you liked a piece, look for where else the author is published. As much as I find author blurbs to generally be annoying and obsequious, in lieu of an author's own website they're at least good for spotting other magazines that are potentially up your alley.Also:>>25347359From what I understand, it wasn't the Granta editors who selected the winners of that contest, just that the had an agreement with the contest to publish their winners. Stupid and careless, but isn't indicative of the standards or taste of the Granta editors.
>>25347335/lit/ isn't dead yet, good post
>>25347307noithing reeks more of midwitism than reading lit magazines instead of actual literature
>>25348086If you really believed that, then you would be reading “literature” instead of posting in a thread full of midwits. Birds of a feather flock together!
>>25347400>>25348086
If anyone says The New Yorker I'm going to kill them.
