New Lit on the Block :: Barge Journal
Barge Journal is a biannual print publication with preview content available on the website and e-reader formats forthcoming.
Editors Shawn Maddey, Justin Maddey, Christine McInnes, and Hallie Romba say they started Barge Journal “when we realized that there was a particular aesthetic that we shared and found in many up-and-coming writers, but that seemed relegated to the internet. We really wanted to bring the fervor and style of innovative internet publications to the print world, where a lot of it is highly underrepresented and overwhelmed by more ‘literary’ styles. We also wanted to be able to raise awareness of indie publications to broader audiences of artists and readers.”
What can readers expect to find in Barge Journal? Maddey writes, “We like to say ‘stuff, not things.’ Expect lots of playfulness with language and form, expect risks, expect stuff that you’d be hard-pressed to find in print many other places. Few works we publish are easy reads, and you won’t find any traditionally structured stories or hard genre delineations – instead we strive to publish work that pushes its readers to think, to think differently about literature, and to enjoy the process of doing it. It doesn’t hurt to find comfort in a bit of ugliness, either.”
Contributors to the inaugural issue include Gregg Williard, Yarrow Paisley, M.J. Nicholls, R.L. Swihart, Joshua McKinney, Matthew Dexter, Kristine Ong Muslim, Art Zilleruelo, Colin Winnette, Thomas O’Connell, Nicolas Destino, Paul Kavanaugh, Jonathan Dubow, Margaret Bashaar, Zdravka Evtimova, Andrew Borgstrom, Parker Tettleton, Bob Shar, Travis Blankenship, William Akin, Janann Dawkins, and Neila Mezynski.
As Barge Journal moves forward putting together Issue #2, the editors’ goal is “to always be pushing the boundary a little bit further while having as much fun with it as possible. We would love to be able to include more visually-oriented work and comics/art as well. A lot of our current efforts are focusing on expanding our role as a press, beyond the journal. We will have a series of chapbooks forthcoming (currently by solicitation only, sorry), and are soon going to print with our first full-length book (a comix anthology) as well as a series of literary/arts greeting cards with some great artists and literary works paired up – so, a few great projects to get excited about.”
Barge Journal accepts submissions only online through Submishmash on a rolling basis. Genre identification is open, and the editors state a preference for work that is difficult to classify by genre.
Maddey adds, “We love to interact with our readers, submitters, and contributors, so we invite you to follow us @bargepress on twitter or /bargepress for facebook.”
