Party for a longtime local short stories magazine
American Short Fiction magazine toasts 25 years in Austin.
Apartyforas hort fiction magazine?
Well, yes, in Austin t hereis a party for everythin g.And this fresh affair, dubbed “The Stars at Night,” supports the nonprofit triannual publication American Short Fiction, distributed far and wide but based here in Austin. On Nov. 3, backe rs—and the just plain curious — will attend a 25th anniversary party at the Zilker Clubhouse.
Rebecca Markovits, former editor of the Austin-based Fearless Critic restaurant guide, first volunteered as a teacher for Badgerdog, the former parent company of the literary magazine, which also offered creative writing classes.
“That’s actually how I met Adeena Reitberger, my co-editor at the magazine — I was her teaching assistant,” Markovits says. “But Adeena was also a reader for the magazine back then, reading submissions. And when the magazine went on hiatus and needed new backing, she talked to me about it, knowing I had previous editorial experience. Together, we put together the nonprofit that now supports the magazine.”
The magazine, which is printed in 4,000-copy runs, was anchored in Austin in part because founder Laura Furman lived here, as do the current editors.
“In today’s world, I guess magazines are theoretically as mobile as the people who publish them,” says Markovits, who is married to American-Statesman reporter Asher Price. “But we do feel an inherent connection to Austin. The 25th anniversary issue that’s comin goutatthe end of this month is publishing two stories by writers — Andrea Barrett and Joyce Carol Oates — who were in the very first issue of American Short Fiction. I think there’s a lot of value and meaning in that kind of continuity.”
Markovits acknowledges that the short story format is not amass -market phenomenon, as it was 100 years ago, when an author could live quite well pumping out narratives for national magazines.
“In a sense, nothing — or almost nothing — is really a mass-market phenomenon anymore,” she says. “Just look at TV and the rise of the cable
shows (then streaming). Everything is for a niche market these days, isn’t it? In a way, that’s a really nice thing — it allows for a kind of connoisseurship that values quality — but of course a huge audience is always nice.”
Is writing central to Austin’s cultural identity?
“I think it is, yeah,” Markovits says. “It’s a highly educated town, of course, which always helps. There are a great many terrific writers, both in fiction and nonfiction, based here. A big part of that, of course, is the Michener Center at the University of Texas, which is one of the best writing graduate programs in the country and a real asset to our literary culture.”
Markovits also credits the presence of UT’s Ransom Center, the O. Henry Museum, the Katherine Anne Porter House in Kyle and the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University.
“We feel lucky to be a part of this community,” she says. “But more, even, than a writers’ town, I think Austin is a readers’ town, which is really nice. It’s consistently in the top five cities in the country in terms of books bought per capita. That is, I feel, a really big part of the town’s identity.”
The magazine staff puts on an issue-release party three times a year, but the coming fundraiser, which will include a country band and could grow into an annual gala, feels like a renewed effort at direct community engagement.
“One of the nice things about it is that it will let us recognize some of the writers in our community who’ve really done great things,” Markovits says. “This year, we’re honoring Karan Mahajan, a former Michener Fellow, whose novel ‘The Association of Small Bombs’ was just shortlisted for the National Book Award, which we’re so pumped about, and Deb Olin Unferth, a UT professor and writer who’s done admirable work teaching writing in the Texas prison system.”
Inspired by Unferth’s mission, the magazine has created an annual contest for incarcerated Texas writers, called the Insider Prize.
Not surprisingly, most of the magazine’s staff members are volunteers. Some of them, like Markovits, come from a nonfiction or journalism background.
“One of the amazing discoveries I made in switching over to the world of fiction was how much of a labor of love it is,” she says. “So many people truly care about producing great fiction and do it just for the love it, and we are so lucky to have a fantastic staff of assistant editors at the magazine. Frankly, everyone who works on the magazine, even those who get paid for their time, are doing it for less than they should be. … I mean, we always pay our writers, but they are generous, kind, easy to work with and clearly just pleased to be a part of it.”
What if American Short Fiction received something like the $200 million Lilly grant that was given to Poetry Magazine?
“No, we really enjoy the starving artist thing,” Markovits says. “I’m kidding! Of course we dream about it. That gift was somehow miraculous, but if there’s any magnanimous Austinite out there dreaming of leaving their mark on quality literary fiction for decades to come, you know, call me, I’m willing to talk.” quite the idea man himself — Tom Meredith.
After an hour of the planned, standup program, however, several otherwise sharp guests still couldn’t figure out how an UnDebate works or what was expected of us at this launch party. But we are all ears. Anything would be better than our current national climate of incivility.
Austin Archives Bazaar
This shockingly lively event grouped agents from 26 area archives in the old Saengerrunde Halle while authors and archivists presented their research cases to guests at picnic tables in the Scholz Garten.
Some of these repositories — the Austin History Center, Briscoe Center for American History, Benson Latin American Collection and Ransom Center — I have used for decades. Others, such as the LBJ Presidential Library, Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory and Texas General Land Office, I have cracked open only in the past few years.
There are so many more! Then there are ones that I didn’t know existed, including those dedicated to Catholic, Episcopalian and Presbyterian records. I am especially looking forward to accessing the Carver Genealogy Center.