Endicott Redux

Webzine Watch

The second issue of Dante's Heart is now online, and I recommend taking a look at this lovely little journal. Edited by Daniel Fusch with Andrew Hallam, Janette MacDonald, Ever Saskya, and Jessica Treadwell, Dante's Heart is dedicated to myth, folklore, fairy tales and fantasy -- and to providing a venue for both new and established creators of mythic arts.

Issue II contains fairy tale poetry from Rikki Santer, a folktale translated from the Dutch from Netherlands artist Isabella, and a peek at the latest project from the fabulous mythic filmmaker Lisa Stock, among other offerings. Best of all is Roberta Payne's translation of Libri del sette savi di Roma, a 14th century Italian story usually known as The Seven Sages of Rome. As Daniel Fusch explains, "The Seven Sages is a very old cycle of folk tales, many of them quite dangerous: in these tales young women and old fathers are treacherous, and there is a price to be paid for ignoring the random wisdom of animals."

If you missed the first issue of Dante's Heart, you'll find it here. They also have a blog, which you'll find here; and journal submission information is here.

I also recommend The Edge of the Forest, the children's literature monthly edited by Kelly Herold and Christine Marciniack. The journal isn't new -- just new to me, and I'm chagrined that I didn't know about it sooner. It's packed with good articles and reviews pertaining to all kinds of children's literature, from picture books through Middle Grade books to Young Adult fiction.

The art above is by Isabella.

Reading on the Borders

" 'If the reader, while reading a story of this kind, thinks that the waiters are playing a joke or that they are involved in some collective psychosis, then we have lost the game. But if we have been able to give him the impression that we are talking about a world in which these absurd manifestations appear as normal behaviour, then he will find himself plunged all at once into the heart of the fantastic.' " — Jean-Paul Sartre (Cafe Irreal, Issue #26)

It's always good to remember how much excellent free fiction there is out there -- brought to you by passionate and creative editors who produce terrific issues, almost every month. I'd call it "reading on the borders" (or "interstitial " for those of you in the movement!) because the fiction is unique and experimental, fantastic and magical all at once. So here's a quick round up and I hope you stop by to give all of these hardworking online journals a glance.

Cafe Irreal: publishes wonderful short-short pieces, bordering on the surreal, from an international crop of writers. Favorites from this issue (#26) are Thief of the Moon, by Srinjay Chakravarti and Selections from Fabulosae Aves, by Flavia Lobo (with whimsical drawings by John Digby, such as the one above). And then there's that fabulous quote from Sartre above that I couldn't resist.

Farrago's Wainscot: Volume II, #6 offers a range of emotionally intense self-reflective tales and road stories. Favorites here were Running the Road, by Nancy Jane Moore and Three Views of the Maiden in Peril, by Catherine Lundoff. (Congratulations on their recent award for Best New Online Magazine or Journal.)

Clarkesworld has a fabulous new story from Catherynne Valente, a mystical geographical lesson in A Buyer's Guide to the Maps of Antarctica and Garth Upshaw has a killer tale of crows and aliens in Birdwatcher.

Serendipity, specializing in magic realism, continues to offer a handful of new stories (and a competition here and there) every month. In this issue favorites were Blue, from Elaine Walker and the very quirky Party Line from Phyllis Anderson.

On ghosts and giants. . .

I hope y'all are familiar with Fantasy Magazine, the weekly webzine devoted to high fantasy, contemporary and urban tales, surrealism, magical realism, science fantasy, and folktales. The magazine is co-edited by the indefatigable Sean Wallace and Cat Rambo (of Prime Books), along with the stellar team of Paul Tremblay, K. Tempest Bradford, Paula Guran and Stephen Segal.

They've published some terrific fiction recently, but of particular interest to mythic fiction readers is Paul Jessop's fine tale "A Word Without Ghosts" (with its delicious allusions to fairy tales, animal bridegroom myths, and the story of Peter Pan), and Richard Bowes' enchanting fable "The Cinnamon Cavalier." Don't miss them.

The charming painting above is "The Artist at Work," from K. Tempest Bradford's profile of illustrator Kat Beyer.

Speaking of Prime Books, did you know that they're republishing the "Snow White, Blood Red" fairy tales series in new trade-paperback editions? Black Thorn, White Rose is available now, with more volumes to follow.

   

January Issue of Serendipity

The monthly magical realist journal Serendipity is now available on line. (Wow... I got to hand it to them putting out an issue a month.) Once again there is quite a  nice collection of tales that hover between fantasy (such as, "Magpie Sisters" by Craig Laurence Gidney and "Here There Be Monsters" by Lynn Bartels) and the more retrospective tales of magical realism ( such as "All That Remains is You" by Steven Savile). There is also a classic tale from Lady Charlotte Guest, "The Story of Lludd and Llevelys," and do check out the competition question for this month -- first prize is a copy of Gratia Placenti (an anthology of dark fantasy tales) published by British publisher Apex Publications.

Winter Fruit: New Issue of Goblin Fruit Poetry

Goblin Fruit has just posted their new Winter Issue and it is a poetry-packed issue. There are twenty-two delectable poems from new and established poets of mythic and fairy tale poetry. Here is a sample of the many wonderful offerings you can read: Maureen McQuerry depicts a sensual meeting with a Selkie (in "Selkie"); Sonya Taffe combines folklore and the senses in her piquant "Cherries in Winter"; "Step (and Turn)" by J. C. Runolfson is a dark history of famous fairy tale women and their shoes; "Kitsune" by Joshua Gage is a sleek, shimmering glimpse of the fox wife, while in "Sedna" C. S. E. Cooney sings the epic tale of the Inuit goddess of the ocean.

Once again, I heartily congratulate Goblin Fruit on another terrific issue (poems marked with a little dot have audio!) and wish them a productive and creative New Year. (Artwork is by Oliver Hunter.)

Read it on the web

I take my hat off to all the online journals who manage to put out an issue between December and January. So let me invite you to stop by these industrious sites and spend a little time reading the wide range of literary offerings.

Serendipity's new issue has five original short stories that range from a Japanese fox story, a contemporary Indian "Romeo and Juliet,"  and a terrifying take on the fate of Circe's pigs. There is also a thought provoking article by Yasmin Huda on Magical Realism and the cinema.

Clarkesworld currently has an absolutely gorgeous story, The River Boy, by new father Tim Pratt. Don't miss it. There is also a fascinating interview with Daniel Abraham by Tobias Bucknell, a twisted surreal tale by Brian Ames, and a critical article on the work of Vernor Vinge by Shaun Farrell. The cover art is by Ray Toh.

Farrago's Wainscot continues to offer high octane experimental fiction. My favorite of the bunch this issue is "Mr. Water Bones and His Wife" by Paul Jessup -- a dark comedy depicting the outrageous lengths a man will undertake to become immortal. Joselle Vanderhooft offers three poems on the life of Bluebeard, and Krystal Hart has a terrific interview with Scottish author, Duncan McLean.

And the ever wonderful Words Without Borders starts the new year off with a bang by offering a collection of international stories that mine the literary potential of the seven deadly sins. Too many wonderful stories to mention here -- but all the pieces are quite short and pack a punch, so stop by and sample a few.

Green Man Review celebrates 20 years of Years Best Fantasy and Horror

The Green Man Review librarian Iain Nicholas Mackenzie has put together a terrific collection of reviews, interviews, and personal responses to celebrate the past 20 years of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant. There is a rare and wonderful interview with artist Tom Canty, who designed the wrap around covers, always a beautiful combination of elegant fantasy and smoldering horror. There is a lively interview with current editors Ellen Datlow, Gavin Grant, and Kelly Link here, and, holy cats, there are reviews for every volume produced.

*Art banner above by Tom Canty.

Serendipity's Halloween Specials

Ok, I promised not to double-post on this and my own new blog...but I simply must do it today as I am really enjoying Serendipity's new issue. So here's today's post from the Labyrinth:

Just wanted to make sure folks stopped by the second issue of Serendipity, a new online journal featuring works of magical realism. The short fiction selections are great (ranging from dark to outrageous, and one classic from the Grimms), and there is a kicking interview with Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat) discussing her work (with some very interesting insights into food and magic realism -- totally the sort of thing I think about). And to get you in the mood, there is an annotated Halloween reading list with some excellent titles. Don't like reading online? The good folks at Serendipity have also provided a print function so you can read it in hard copy.

Autumn fruits...

     The veil between the worlds is thin, they say, tonight.
     And if we walk now to the marketplace
     (we fancy it built of fog and fireflies)
     the goblins will smile, cry hail and welcome!
     They nod their heads, stroke our hair, grasp our fingers,
      whisper, yes, the veil grows thin, grows thin...

         - from "Transplendent We" by Peg Aloi

The Autumn 2007 Issue of Goblin Fruit is now online, featuring "poems about ghosts and memory, poems about animate place and music. We have poems that are bare-tree spare and poems that are harvest-lush. This season’s issue is our fattest yet, so swallow a spoonful of honey or olive oil and prepare to read aloud for a while."

In addition to the Peg Aloi poem quoted above, there are many other magical offerings (my personal favorites are Jennifer Crow's "Bear Clad" and Corey Mesler's wry fairy tale poem, "The Wolf Hungry for Connection"), and a discussion of dark fantasy in poetry of the Romantic period. The webzine is edited and designed by Amal Ah-motar, Jessica P. Wick, and Oliver Hunter (a talented young trio that I was fortunate enough to spend a little time with this summer), with illustrations by the latter.

    

Mythic Passages: October

The new issue of Mythic Passages, the webzine of the Mythic Imaginations Institute, is now online. Focusing on "Educating the Imagination," the 'zine includes articles on the art of teaching by David L. Miller and Jay D'Ambrosio, on Haphaestus the blacksmith by Wilhelm Oosthuizen, and on the mythic imagination by William F. Doty, plus a look at Derek Beres' Burning Man film and an interview with playwright Sidney Perkowitz. There's also mythic fiction, poetry, and more -- such as a fine sequence of poems by Ari Berk, and reviews of Stardust and Brian Froud's World of Faerie by Brenda Sutton. The cover art this month is "The Magic of Books" by Martin Springett.