BUST

BUST is a bi-monthly women’s lifestyle magazine geared towards crafty, young adult, professional women.  It can be found at Alden Library next to magazines like Glamor and Cosmopolitan.  Unique to BUST is that it works to blend what is considered old female interests with the sort of new-age popular female interest—I found BUST’s style described as “girlie feminist” a couple of times.  In the February/March addition of BUST the New/ Old style was visually demonstrated.  It featured elderly woman whom hold some celebrity pictured wearing some sort of eclectic outfit-- next to these photos a young model was featured wearing the same thing the older woman in the picture was wearing.  BUST includes everything from interviews with celebrity woman to travel writing to recipes and crafts to a section at the end with BUST endorsed music, books, and movies.  

Debbie Stroller and Laurie Henzel published the first edition of BUST in 1993.  They wanted to create a better publication for woman.   They created the tagline for their magazine: “the magazine for women with something to get off their chests.”

Bust is always accepting submissions of work and can be sent to P.O Box 1016 Cooper Station, New York, NY 10276.  Check out the BUST website for more details.  This would be a good publication to submit all kinds of non-fiction work.  Short pieces on a woman doing something awesome for the world would work or your own female experience would work as well.

In the February/March edition there is a short story on female tattoo artist, Amy Black who is tattooing nipples on those who have been victim to breast cancer.  In another story called My Beautiful Launderette author Ayun Halliday writes a sort of meditative essay on laundry.  She writes about the never-ending supply of laundry she most do and how at times it makes her feel strong and tough.—“Not that we mothers have a choice” she writes.

BUST holds a craft fair called the Craftacular in the spring and winter.  At the latest event participants made friendship bracelets, snow globes, terrariums, bathroom booms (I think this is a sort of soap—but who knows—it could be something gross!) and retro-hair dos.  Raffle prizes are given out.  Hundreds of vendors sell their crafts bringing together artists.  Those attending dance the night away dressed in some sort of theme.

I thought this magazine was a nice one to look through and provided a good window into other women’s lives.  Unlike the other publications we have looked at, BUST appeals to a narrower audience but covers a wider range of topics.

Maya Literary Magazine

          An undergraduate, student-run literary magazine out of Drexel University focuses on publishing student poetry, prose, short fiction, non-fiction as well as graphics, illustrations, photography and other art. Records indicate the first issue of Maya was published in 1967. From this point the magazine flourished up to the year 2000 when they faced a 6 year hiatus and did not publish again until 2005.
         From the looks of the magazine, it appeals more to short types of poetry and photography, there were about 6 pieces of fiction and non-fiction combined. This is probably because submissions can't exceed 5 pages double spaced. Maya takes submissions all year round, but publishes once per year usually in the Spring. The only requirement of Maya is that anyone who submits must be an undergraduate of Drexel Univeristy.
        I looked over the past 2010 issue and there were only 3 non-fiction pieces in there. Not much for me to review, but there were 2 pieces that I found interesting.
   The Mystical Creature of Vienna by Mike Stumpo in this piece the author writes about a trip into a mystical land which describes as "The land of gum-dropped shaped shrubbery and fairytale places" and how this place bring outs the inner child of Gena, the main character. Amused my a street balloonist, she shouts out different balloon animals for him to make and in the end he decides upon making her a "trouser dragon". Lets just say that in the end there are some perverted people amongst these mystical streets.
     Dictionary Definitions for Social Networking Site by Sarah Solomon was one I found to be quite amusing and something almost everyone could relate too. Solomon gives a modern, sarcastic definition for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even the old MySpace one could never forget. Describes the most common uses for them today and how people are wrapped up in social media that face-to-face interaction is becoming quite foreign.
     Overall The Maya Literary Magazine appeals to most of peoples creative needs. The magazine student run and only students know what other students need. Maya does a wide variety of events throughout the campus to engage the student body, get volunteers and even have people submitted there writing. Something  interesting I came across was about the Might Writers program Maya  is apart of. They are in collaboration with Temple University and both school work with elementary school students on proper writing and aspiring author. GO MAYA! This is very interesting magazine and I'm glad it appeals to more than just non-fiction.

Harpers Magazine

Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally liberal perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S.

When I heard “Harpers” it was familiar but I was actually thinking of the fashion magazine.

Harper's Magazine was launched as Harper's New Monthly Magazine in June 1850, by the New York City publisher Harper & Brothers; the same people who also founded Harper's Bazaar magazine, which eventually became HarperCollins Publishing. The first press run, of 7,500 copies, sold out almost immediately; circulation was some 50,000 issues six months later.

The early issues reprinted material already published in England, but the magazine soon was publishing the work of American artists and writers, and in time commentary by the likes of Winston Churchill and Woodrow Wilson. The first appearance in print of parts of Moby Dick occurred in Harper's Magazine in Oct. 1851 under the title, "The Town-Ho's Story". Which at that time meant townsperson not prostitute.

Harpers has had some notable controversies In the past. In an article called "Davy Crockett's Electioneering Tour" published April 1867, James Bethune claimed to have heard a speech called "Not yours to give", given by Davy Crockett and inspired by Horatio Bunce. As it happens, Bunce was not born until 1840, four years after Crockett's death and twelve years after the alleged speech. This enduring myth was debunked in 2004, the incident, and Horatio Bunce, did not exist.

The March 2006 issue contained the Celia Farber reportage, Out of Control: AIDS and the Corruption of Medical Science, presenting Peter Duesberg's theory that HIV does not cause AIDS. It was strongly criticized by AIDS activists, scientists, the Columbia Journalism Review, and others, as inaccurate and for promoting a scientifically discredited theory. The Treatment Action Campaign, a South African organization working for greater popular access to HIV treatments, posted a response by eight researchers documenting more than fifty errors in the article.

Harpers offers editorial and art internships throughout the year. These are unpaid and interns work on a 3-5 week basis.

As for submissions, “Harper's Magazine will neither consider nor return unsolicited nonfiction manuscripts that have not been preceded by a written query. Harper's will consider unsolicited fiction. Unsolicited poetry will not be considered or returned. No queries or manuscripts will be considered unless they are accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.”

Harpers has an online archive which goes back to 1859, each linked year includes selected articles, however to view them you must be a paid subscriber.

For the most part everything I’ve read has described it as a very general interest magazine, with specialization in magazine art.

New York Times - Modern Love

The New York Times column on Modern Love focuses on issues of life and love. They host a variety of different articles written by people of all ages on all sorts of subjects relating to love and relationships. They look for memoir-esque writings, something that the author has gone through themselves so they can pass on experiences and advice to others that might be going through similar things.

A recent contest asked college students to write about what love is like for them. They recieved over 1,200 essays from nearly 400 schools across 46 states and Puerto Rico. The essays addressed everything from love, to hooking-up, to dating and more. The winning essay is called Want to be my Boyfriend? Please Define. The essay, written by Marguerite Fields, talks about the noncommittal nature of most college relationships. It is a very intriguing article about how the definition of even boyfriend and girlfriend has changed and the different views held my many college age students.

Other articles include:

A Surrender, After Uneasy Peace by Jenny Williams. It is an essay about the life of an army wife whose husband is deployed to Afghanistan. She talks about the pain she feels when her husband is gone. In the end, he leaves the army and they move to the suburbs where they can build a life with their young kids.

Adoption Story: What My Life Might Have Been by Jaime Cone. I found this article very intriguing as I was adopted myself and I often wonder what my life would be like if I had not been adopted and kept by my biological mother. This article talks about how the author was adopted and how better off her life is since she was.

Exit Left, Wordlessly by Aimme Ball. This article talks about the authors boyfriend and how he left her on Christmas without saying a word. She speaks of her betrayal and how hurt she was by his sudden leaving.

Taking a Step Forward by Deborah Derrickson Kossmann. This is an article about how a young couple was experiencing problems in their marriage. They developed a creative way to keep their marriage alive: to take dance lessons! The story tells of how they worked out their problems with rhythm.

These essays were written to people who are married, in relationships, or just love to live life. It ranges in ages from 20-60 and covers every topic you can think of. Sex, love, life. Most articles are expected to be 1500-1700 words in length. They cannot be previously published articles, including blog posts and other places online. Their promise to respond to all admissions within four weeks. There is no deadline except for special contests, such as the college love contest.

Overall this was a very interesting site to peruse. I enjoyed reading about the articles about love and life because I think it is very important to learn a lot about both of those topics.

Over and out,
Felicia

The Gettysburg Review

"Pure delight, every time."

The Gettysburg Review is a literary journal that is published out of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. The journal includes all different types of selections, including nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, as well as a graphics section, where the most recent edition has paintings by David Graeme Baker.

The overall design of the journal is described as being "elegant," with a classic layout and excellent use of artwork. The print version comes out every 3-6 months, and is sold through the online website, with selections offered online as well.

All of the nonfiction pieces are considered to be "essays" but are mostly centered around memoirs or lyrical essays. Two in particular caught my eye that were also posted online.

"Power Play" by Cynthia Dockrell about a Christmas gone wrong after her mother and father argue over work, family, and life in general that all takes place around a hockey game. It ends in a very jilted and distant way, giving the reader a real-life look into complicated relationships.

"The Art of War" by Sarah Aswell about a father/daughter relationship that delves into the past to show why it exists in the present. This piece looks at racial history and how that affects familial relationships.

Both pieces are more memoir than anything else, but also include elements of lyrical essay and profiles of their lives. In fact, most of the nonfiction pieces in The Gettysburg Review are very memoir based. There is no young adult section, and all of the pieces that I read included some adult themes, but often took place in the author's childhood. Both of the selected pieces were long in form, and according to the sites guidelines, can be as much as 25-manuscript pages long, so in comparison to other journals we have looked at, it is much longer is overall form.

Besides the nonfiction department, there is a fiction and poetry section as well, that also include more adult themes. The graphics sections often include paintings, or very intricate and artistic drawings. The overall tone is very artistic and adult, which makes sense since it is run by a liberal arts college.

There is a submission page, but it only has information for where to mail in submissions. There are also specific dates that they accept them and specific guidelines, so the entire process is a little more strict than other literary journals or magazines.

The Gettysburg Review also holds a yearly writers conference that involves workshops, panels, consultations, and readings for writers all over the country. Old editions of the journal are also available for purchase online through the website.

My conclusion, is that The Gettysburg Review is a little exclusive, and the opportunity to get published in it could be more difficult than with other literary journals. Overall though, it provides deep and thoughtful nonfiction writing plus beautiful artwork.

Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction

Brevity is an online magazine publication that began at Ohio University. The founder and editor is Dinty W. Moore, who is a professor at Ohio's English department.

First of all, it is important to understand the definition of the word "brevity." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "brevity" is "the being short in speech or writing" or "conciseness." This definition is exactly what Brevity represents.

Brevity publishes “concise literary nonfiction” of 750 words or less. The literary nonfiction includes mostly book reviews and craft essays. The publication started when the Internet was just beginning, so, initially, Moore used it as an experiment with HTML codes. Now, the site reaches about 10,000 visitors per month and has turned into more than just an experiment with codes an concepts. You can also subscribe to the Brevity Mailing List where you will be alerted every time new material is published.

In regard to nonfiction writing, Moore believes there is plenty of room for more experimentation with form, voice, language and imagery than there used to be in the past. The lines between types of nonfiction writing such as personal essays, literary journalism, and even the lyric essays are blurring, which is a positive concept in Moore's eyes. He believes the distinction between the aforementioned types of writing shouldn't have to be made.

The work of two Pulitzer prize finalists, numerous NEA fellows, Pushcart winners, Best American authors, and writers from India, Egypt, Ireland, Spain, Malaysia, and Japan have contributed to Brevity. In an interview with Angela M. Graziano -- who has her MFA in creating nonfiction -- Moore said, "Brevity is always looking for new voices, and we’ve published some wonderful beginning writers, but I don’t think we are any easier to crack than the print journals now. The volume and quality of our submissions is staggering."

Anyone can submit his or her work via e-mail to have a chance for it to be published on the site. Fresh, new ideas are always welcome. Submissions that stand out have a tight prose and surprise the reader at some point. If your work is selected, a $45 honorarium will be rewarded.

Brevity also has a blog that is updated (somewhat) daily. The blog contains information on contests, calls for submissions, creative nonfiction miscellany, and Brevity magazine news and updates. You can e-mail the blog at brevitymag@gmail.com about any questions or concerns pertaining to Brevity.

"Imagine that you are dying. If you had a terminal disease would you finish this book? Why not? The thing that annoys this ten-weeks-to-live self is the thing that is wrong with the book. So change it. Stop arguing with yourself. Change it. See? Easy. And no one had to die." - Anne Enright