Readers
Rich Horton's Market Summaries:
Some More Small Press Magazines, 2004
Here are quick descriptions of five more small press magazines of which I saw one issue each in 2004. For the most part these are relative newcomers -- with one exception, Not One of Us has been around for 32 issues now, and I should have included it in my "veteran" list. Again, though I only saw one issue each, that doesn't mean there were not additional issues.
1. Not One of Us
Not One of Us is edited by John Benson. As mentioned above, I saw issue #32. The general focus of the magazine is stories and poems of "dislocation". I've compared it elsewhere (in an upcoming review at SF Site, actually) to The Third Alternative (plus poetry, minus features and production values). I thought this issue had a number of pretty decent stories (and some good poetry too), the best being Sonya Taaffe's "Another Coming", about a rather different love triangle. Seven short stories, one a short-short, for some 24,000 words.
2. Zahir
This magazine, subtitled Unforgettable Tales, is edited by Sheryl Tempchin. I saw issue #4. Nine stories, one a short-short, for a little over 30,000 words of fiction. Sonya Taaffe appears here as well, with a nice short-short, "Abraham's Guest". I also liked stories by David Evans Katz and Frank Andreotti, and S. Sarkar. This is also, I will note, a rather attractively presented magazine, digest-sized and perfect bound with a nice cover by Jason Just.
3. Trunk Stories
Trunk Stories, edited by William Smith, published its second issue this year. There were four short stories, one a short-short, totalling about 15,000 words. Mark Rayner's "The Monkey's Tail" is a fine short-short, and the other stories, by Nelson Stanley, Eric Gardner, and David Connerly Nahm, were at least interesting. The magazine shows a bit of a taste for somewhat experimental fiction. There is also poetry.
4. The Whirligig
I saw issue #9 of this 'zine. As far as I can tell the editor prefers to remain anonymous. (At least I couldn't find his or her name in either the magazine or website.) This issue included one novelette and four short stories (two short-shorts), as well as some "minimal fictions" and some "two word anagrammatic stories" by Richard Kostelanetz. There is also a poem by Jessica Wickens. The novelette is "The Dead Celebrity" by Douglas Lain, and it's as strange and weirdly involving as you might expect from Lain. Of the short stories, perhaps Mike Cipra's "Evidence of Cannibalism in the Culture" is the best.
Irregular Quarterly
I saw the first issue of this 'zine, edited by Jamie Rosen. Seven quite short stories (two short-shorts), totalling less than 15,000 words. The nearly ubiquitous Jay Lake contributed a good piece, "Browsing in the Month of Lightly Done", and I also liked stories from Amy Sisson ("Clara, She Was") and D. F. Lewis ("The Piano").
