MAKE :: NewPages Guide to Literary Magazines

MAKE

A Chicago Literary Magazine

Publisher’s description: MAKE is a biannual publication creating a lasting document of the current writing landscape. It is a literary, artistic object in pursuit of a thematic vision, not just a collection of literary fragments and pieces. Each issue carries a theme relevant to the events that have most recently shaped how we live, work, play, and think.

One-of-a-kind interviews and collaborations, as well as visual art portfolios compliment the award-winning essay, fiction and poetry. Contributors are both established and emerging writers and have included Lauren Berlant, Dorothea Lasky, Marvin Bell, Tom Bissell, Arda Collins, Aleksandar Hemon, Alex Kotlowitz, Amy Leach, Marvin Tate and Lewis Warsh, to name a few.

“With each themed issue loaded with original fiction, essential nonfiction, great interviews, poetry and artwork, MAKE consistently strikes the balance between cutting-edge and traditional.” Robert Duffer, examiner.com

“MAKE helps introduce my students to the most current modes of contemporary literature while familiarizing them with some key Chicago writers.” Eula Biss , author of Note’s from No Man’s Land: American Essays (Graywolf, 2009)

Recent issues:

MAKE #11 themed “Neither/Nor” features writing and visual art that is neither here nor there, including new fiction from Timothy Schaffert, Elizabeth Crane, Jac Jemc, and David Unger; nonfiction from Dylan Nice, Janet Desaulniers, and Freya Gibbon; poems by Anthony McCann, Laura Goldstein, and Patricia Lockwood; and many, many others. MAKE contributing editors interview David Raskin, author of Donald Judd, as well as comedian Kumail Nanjiani. The issue also features full color art portfolios from R. E. H. Gordon, Margot Bergman, and Borden Capalino and story art illustrations by Aya Yamasaki, Geoffrey Hamerlinck, Rusty Shackleford, and more.

Issue 10—At Play—commemorates MAKE’s fifth year by asking collaborators to play with form, language, convention, and expectations.  The high-quality print edition exhibits an impressive collection of full-color art curated by painter Stacie Johnson featuring Phyllis Bramson, John Dilg, Lily Van der Stokker, and Liz Nielsen.  Readers will find, interspersed amongst the new work from poets and writers such as Gina Frangello, Mabel Yu, James Tate, Geoffrey Nutter, and Devin King, a special section in celebration of MAKE’s fifth anniversary featuring short stories, poems, and ruminations on the number five from past MAKE contributors including Blake Butler, Lewis Warsh, Alissa Nutting, and Travis Nichols. 

Issue 9—Myth, Magic, & Ritual—called for work that considers the ways in which myth has been used–and continues to be used–as a means of explaining and combating the forces that act upon our lives. Along with additional visual art pages and an expanded reviews section, are new works by Michael Kobre, the prolific duo of Lily Hoang and Kathleen Rooney , Luis Sepúlveda, Dara Wier, Cathy Park Hong, Peter Richards, Brandon Downing, Jenny Boully, Kate Zambreno, Mary Ruefle, and many more. Plus, a revealing, and at times absurd, interview with Irvine Welsh.