Luna Digest, 7/13

Things have very recently changed at Mississippi Review, as they have also changed for its former editor, Frederick Barthelme, who, among other things, is on the Board of Advisors here at Fictionaut. Though Barthelme made the magazine what it is today (international, awesome) after taking the helm in 1977, the editor is now Julia Johnson. And the masthead of the magazine is, well, gone. No Rie Fortenberry, managing editor for decades. No contributing editors. No student assistant editors. Just Julia, the new editor, alone at the top.

This strange business at Mississippi Review—a magazine described by Ann Beattie, Raymond Carver, Charles Simic, and others as one of the best mags in the country—has been lost in all the hullabaloo going on at The University of Southern Mississippi, host of the magazine. To make a long, and utterly complex story short: Barthelme is leaving The Center for Writers after 33 years. Here’s a bit from a recent news article on the topic:

Ordinarily it should be a time to pop the cork on the champagne. After 33 years of building up a creative writing program from relative obscurity to one ranked in the top 10 percent in the country, award-winning novelist Frederick Barthelme is leaving the University of Southern Mississippi.

The new issue of American Short Fiction—with work from Mike Young, Matt Bell, and others—is one magazine’s answer to “The Death of Fiction.” (At least to this reader.)

In news about the recognition of online publishing, Lynn Freed’s short story “Sunshine” from Narrative Magazine has been selected for the 2011 PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, becoming the first story from an online magazine ever to win.

Necessary Fiction has applied what could be called the Ploughshares model to the online world, having begun to bring in a new writer-in-residence each month to select content. Last month, Roxane Gay was the magazine’s first writer-in-residence. This month it is William Walsh.

(Correction: Necessary Fiction editor Steve Himmer adds to the above, specifying:

How our weekly stories are selected and edited hasn’t changed (which is to say, I do it). But in addition to those stories we’re inviting a writer in residence to add content to the site in whatever way they choose. Roxane Gay decided to feature the work of other writers, and William Walsh is sharing his own writing. Next month will be something different.)

Finally, Dorothee Lang notes:

Daily s-Press, the book blog that features books from small+indie presses is currently running a summer special of reading and writing projects. Next week, there will be be a feature on “52/250 A Year of Flash“—a project that connects to Fictionaut. They have a Fictionaut group, and encourage member to post their weekly flash story both in the project page and in fictionaut. Susan Tepper, Sam Rasnake, Ajay Nair, Walter Björkman, Christian Bell, Ann Bogle, Linda Simoni-Wastila, Matthew A. Hamilton and other fictionauts are taking part.

Every Tuesday, Travis Kurowski presents Luna Digest, a selection of news from the world of literary magazines. Travis is the editor of Luna Park, a magazine founded on the idea that journals are as deserving of critical attention as other artistic works.