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The Killing Frost

Chris Flynn October 19

The New York Mirror once noted that magazines “spring up as fast as mushrooms, in every corner and, like all rapid vegetation, bear the seeds of early decay within them. Hundreds of publications fold after a killing frost, but hundreds more are found to supply their place, to tread in their steps and share their destiny.” That was written in November 1828 and clearly not much has changed in the 184 years since. The most recent victim of the harsh winter is Adelaide-based literary magazine Wet Ink.

Founded in 2005 and managing to put out a very respectable twenty-seven issues before folding, Wet Ink was a welcome addition to the Australian literary scene that provided a home for the work of emerging writers faced with limited opportunities to have their writing published. In particular the magazine excelled in supporting fiction, under the tutelage of long-running fiction editors Emmett Stinson and Sally Breen. In 2010 the outlook for Wet Ink seemed rosy, as the magazine teamed up with the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund (formerly CAL) to present an annual short story prize. Sadly, that award has gone down with the ship, though perhaps it will find a home elsewhere.

Every issue featured an interview with a well-known Australian writer, and in the seven years of the magazine’s operation its editors have managed to create a superb archive of Paris Review style interviews that is a who’s who of Australian letters. The statement on the magazine’s website tells a familiar tale, one that rings true to me, a former editor of a small literary journal myself. Editors Phillip Edmonds and Dominique Wilson admit openly that the reasons for the magazine folding are mostly financial. Poor retail sales, the impossibility of securing advertising – simply put, not enough readers buying and supporting the magazine. This is the tightrope literary publications walk the world over—unable to find an audience amongst the general book-buying public, literary magazines and journals often rely upon the support of the very writers they publish or hope to publish in their pages, and this is rarely enough to secure longevity. Vale Wet Ink, for an amazing run against the odds.

One of the new publications to tread in Wet Ink’s steps is Higher Arc, the second issue of which is released this month. In a clever nod to the sentiment echoed in the New York Mirror above, editors Mieke Chew and Will Heyward regularly pay tribute to fallen magazines from the past on the magazine’s blog. Included amongst these eclectic titles is the much-loved Scripsi, founded by Heyward’s father.

Despite the bad news about Wet Ink, there is still an enthusiasm for beautifully designed literary magazines out there. Higher Arc has already set a high standard with its full-colour risographed first issue, and literary journals won several categories at this month’s Qantm Create Design Awards, which were presented by Desktop magazine in a lavish ceremony at Melbourne’s Forum theatre. Studio Friend won the Print Creative category for their design on the Penguin Plays Rough book of short stories (based on the popular Sydney storytelling event) and in a hotly contested category, David Lancashire Design took out the best illustration of the year for—hey, whaddya know—his cover of Meanjin Volume 71 Number 1. In case you somehow missed it, it’s the one with the giant pair of scissors cutting a heart in two.

Perhaps it goes without saying but if you value the contribution of these magazines to our culture, seek them out and throw a few bucks their way. As former President John F. Kennedy said, “The role of the magazine is to confront the great issues of our times; to open up the conflict of opinion; to welcome the unpopular idea and the controversial issue; to show curiousity, and compassion and concern; to be literate and spirited; to bring people broadened knowledge and deeper understanding on every subject.”


 

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Comments

by phillip edmonds
19 Oct 12 at 13:13

Thanks for the kind comments Chris. You are right it was a combination of factors and a utopian gesture of sorts. Publishing largely fiction from unknown authors defied the ‘market’ as it were. A difficult economy was another factor. Somewhere in this the educational CW industry has to have a good look at itself.

Phillip Edmonds (Wet ink)

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