Provocations/Instigations is the theme for Superpresent Winter 2024 issue, which is most fitting since “provocation and instigation is really what the artists and writers do,” says Editor Kevin Clement. “Some the contributors instigate and provoke, others point out when it’s being done to us.”

The issue contains new works by well-lauded writers like Nick Flynn, David Kirby, and Duncan Forbes. There is also much to consider in the other contributions, like “Under Some Auspices (In Advance of a Broken State),” Shaun Griffiths’ 53-second video made in response to the Trump-led crimes of insurrection and treason on January 6th. The work comments on the instigations and provocations of the far right and its dependence on empty gestures. “Pop Out,” by Abaine Campbell-Gardner borrows from Willem de Kooning’s Women paintings, but radically morphs its iconography by adding a phallus and removing a face.

Sometimes form itself can be the provocation, as in the work of David Felix or that of Michael Webster. While some instigations rely on words leading to action, sometimes unexpected actions lead to the most meaningful words; “Words Will Come,” by Frances Gaudiano is an extraordinary case in point.

The latest issue of Superpresent (Vol 3 No 4 Fall 2023) is now available. The theme for this, our eleventh issue, was Naturally. The issue features artwork, poetry, prose, asemic writing, and even videos from across the globe.

Find out more about many of these titles with our Guide to Literary Magazines and our Big List of Literary Magazines and Big List of Alternative Magazines. If you are a publication looking to be listed in our monthly roundup or featured on our blog and social media, please contact us.

Superpresent is a unique magazine in that it puts equal emphasis on the written word and visual arts, publishing work from a diverse set of talented writers, artists, and filmmakers. “When we chose the theme for this, our tenth issue,” explains Editor Kevin Clement, “we didn’t do an inquiry on the term ‘inquiries.’ Perhaps we should have. We didn’t expand on the theme as we sometimes do. Perhaps we should have. We did make the word plural, hoping for multiplicity. We weren’t disappointed. The writers and artists who contributed to this issue put forth questions across disciplines.” Providing some commentary on select pieces, Clements adds, “frequent contributor Duncan Forbes sent three poems that pose some fascinating questions and an essay on the brain which includes an analysis of one of our favorite Dickinson poems on the same subject. Her poem questions as it proposes. Our arts editor proposed questions to artist Aimée Beaubien whose work graces the cover. We know readers will enjoy her thoughtful responses which, like her art, have layers upon layers, questions upon questions.” Visit the Superpresent website today to read the entire issue.

Superpresent’s submission theme for the Spring 2023 Issue was Speculation and Spectacle. Contributors were up for the challenge of speculating, in all its splendors. Thinkers and artists have understood the value of speculation. “When I express my opinions it is so as to reveal the measure of my sight not the measure of the thing,” says Montaigne. Sometimes we need to consider and sometimes we need to know. “Questions for Titian,” by Duncan Forbes, like several other entries, revels in the questions. Sometimes the speculation is darker. What happens when a family member … disappears? Robert Lunday’s “Disequilibria: Meditations on Missingness” provides one person’s clues. What thoughts are in a man’s head who has lived decades on the street? Miao Jiaxin answers with selections from his ongoing monumental series Albert Bushwick. The ‘Spectacle’ reduces reality to an endless supply of commodifiable fragments, while encouraging us to focus on appearances. In this issue, works like “Perception: A Curse,” by Lindsey-Ann Chilcott, offers a reminder of Debord’s idea that “[t]he reigning economic system is a vicious circle of isolation.” Similarly, Daniel Bauer’s photographs of brutalist architecture, with their undulating curves and dramatic light, may reveal “the nightmare of imprisoned modern society…” Visit Superpresent‘s website to download a free PDF of the issue as well as order a print copy.

The editors welcome readers to the Winter 2023 issue of Superpresent: “In the spirit of all who hunger, we welcome you to the seventh issue and third year of Superpresent magazine, assembled in this third year of a global pandemic and the first year of war in Ukraine. In this issue contributors explore food, drink, feeding, hunger, appetite, and many related and peripheral matters. We received over 400 submissions from 18 states, 17 countries, 80 poets, 53 writers, and 120 artists. In addition to self-styled artists and writers, contributors include a fireman, a doctor, a biologist, a librarian, an urban planner, a bartender, two journalists, a tarot reader, a designer, and a neuroscientist. The work selected ranges from the literal (a feast, actual family recipes, voluptuous images of fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, and snack packs) to the metaphorical (food as fashion, food as sex, sex as food) to the tangential (critiques of the chemical industry, alternative uses for kitchen tools, precise measurements of the sodium, fat and carbs found in common foods) and includes memory pieces (jello and ball pits, rotting bananas) and humor (a gorilla fights a fly for a frozen treat?) and a little irony (the makings of Molotov cocktails delicately arranged as a still life – or should this be filed under metaphor?).” Decide for yourself by visiting Superpresent‘s website where the publication can be read online, downloaded as a PDF, or is available in print for purchase and subscription.

Superpresent magazine of the arts Summer 2022 issue is themed “Signs and Symbols,” and the editors comment that “works selected seem both grounded and abstract. Some of the works are mysterious and some surprisingly direct.” Most assuredly, there is a lot to choose from to enjoy, with works from over fifty contributors – prose, poetry, art – and the ever-cool film section with links/QR codes to a unique selection of short art films. Superpresent is available to download as a PDF or by subscription, mailed four times per year.