So, I've had a couple meetings with the folks at Rough Copy and things are coming along nicely. I've ironed out a couple projects that I will pursuing over the term. How about I tell you what they are...
Rough Copy is undergoing a couple large enterprises in the coming months and I will be helping with most of them. First, there is the anthology of the magazine's work that I'm going to have a hand in making a reality. Having featured several authors who are now pretty hot shit (Bonnie Jo Campbell was nominated this year for the National Book Critics Circle Award, eep) it has become a priority for the whole Rough Copy crew to make a physical record of their efforts. The original reason the magazine decided to publish online as opposed to print is because of the costs involved and cost is still the main obstacle to the anthology, but part of my project will be researching publishers and finding a good way to bridge the gap between cost and quality. Also, I'm to start spreading my attentions to local designers who might be a good fit for the anthology's design aspect. I'd really like to see the anthology follow the stellar lead of Tin House and create a literary outlet that actually takes design seriously. There are a couple friends with whom I've had the pleasure of working who might be good for this project so I'm going to get in touch with them.
The main thrust of my project with Rough Copy will be to work on the blog associated with their magazine. Executive Editor Janet Freeman (currently in absentia while writing in Phoenix, but with whom I am corresponding via email) is interested in keeping the magazine's readership going in between the actual publication dates by creating a blog that will give a steadier stream of content to interested bibliophiles. Having amassed a decent amount of experience in print and web, I am to spearhead this effort.
The blog will focus on several things, ranging from interviews to essays to reviews. First and foremost my job will be to conduct some interviews with artists and authors and put these on the interweb. The first interview I will be conducting (curiously enough) will be with Mary Mattingly. Mattingly, as it turns out, is a childhood friend of Managing Editor Ashawnta Jackson and I've been put in touch with Ms. Mattingly to ask her some questions about her life and work. I will then transcribe these, write an excellent introduction and post it to Rough Copy's blog. From preliminary conversations I've had with Mattingly and from research I've done it seems like this will be a very fascinating project. Our conversation has been trending toward a discussion of the modern role of artists and what it is that makes someone an "artist" in this day and age. Good stuff!
After interviewing Mattingly I am going to interview several more authors (including Bonnie Jo Campbell) and post these interviews to the web as well. I will also be facilitating the community calendar on the blog and trying to make Rough Copy a community hub for Portland writers, something that will drive the magazine's viewership and help draw the Portland writing community closer together (hopefully...maybe). In addition to all this I will be soliciting essays and reviews from contributors to place on the blog.
This April will see the fifth edition of Rough Copy hitting the internet and yet another of my tasks will be to help facilitate the launch party for this occasion. Rough Copy's previous launch party took place at Powell's and was met with widespread attendance and an enthusiastic response so I've got to work on ways to one-up that. Eep.
Anyway, I am thoroughly in the thick of this now, as you can plainly see, and my work is coming along at an appreciably hectic pace. Further bulletins as events warrant.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Welcome to the mess
So, for those of you interested (and if you're reading this I assume you're interested) this blog has been set up to chronicle my work with Rough Copy Magazine in Winter/Spring 2010. I'm undertaking this project as part of my Senior Capstone at PSU, but I also have the great pleasure of working with the staff of Rough Copy for the simple reason that I am a humongous fan of their magazine and would love to help in its production. Is this awesome? Why yes, this is totally awesome, and let me tell you why.
Rough Copy is an online literary magazine making its initial forays into the printed world (this will partially be my task when working with the magazine, helping make this a reality). Have you clicked that link yet? Because if you haven't then you should. Rough Copy has the unique advantage of not only providing a well-rounded and methodical crop of literary offerings but also of making these offerings free to the public, something literary magazines have been slow to do for a number of reasons, all of which Rough Copy seems to have happily surpassed.
If you're so disposed, I would check out "The Countdown as Seen From 2000 Feet Above" by Sandy Tanaka, "The Power of Fiction" by Benjamin Chadwick, and "Our Problem" by Molly Giles. All of these stories are from people working at the top of their form and together they should give a nice impression of the alternately experimental and traditional material being published by the magazine.
In addition to fiction, Rough Copy offers an excellent selection of poetry, non-fiction, and just a little bit of art, which I recommend you check out as well.
My job in all this is still being defined, but like I said, from early talks with the magazine's editorial staff it seems like I will be focusing on the compilation of an anthology of the magazine's works as well as on the release of their fifth issue, due out this Spring. As their past issues have been accompanied by readings and other community projects it's a safe bet to say that this aspect of my work with Rough Copy will fit well with the "pedagogical art" side of this class.
My contacts at Rough Copy are Ashawnta Jackson, managing editor and talented poetess, and Janet Freeman, executive editor, talented writer, and currently in absentia while she works on the above in the spacious wilds of Arizona (I think...I might have to double check that). In any case, most of my work will be done with Ashawnta, whose talent and hard work I am eagerly waiting to be a part of.
Further bulletins as events warrant, may everyone have a lovely time between now and then.
Rough Copy is an online literary magazine making its initial forays into the printed world (this will partially be my task when working with the magazine, helping make this a reality). Have you clicked that link yet? Because if you haven't then you should. Rough Copy has the unique advantage of not only providing a well-rounded and methodical crop of literary offerings but also of making these offerings free to the public, something literary magazines have been slow to do for a number of reasons, all of which Rough Copy seems to have happily surpassed.
If you're so disposed, I would check out "The Countdown as Seen From 2000 Feet Above" by Sandy Tanaka, "The Power of Fiction" by Benjamin Chadwick, and "Our Problem" by Molly Giles. All of these stories are from people working at the top of their form and together they should give a nice impression of the alternately experimental and traditional material being published by the magazine.
In addition to fiction, Rough Copy offers an excellent selection of poetry, non-fiction, and just a little bit of art, which I recommend you check out as well.
My job in all this is still being defined, but like I said, from early talks with the magazine's editorial staff it seems like I will be focusing on the compilation of an anthology of the magazine's works as well as on the release of their fifth issue, due out this Spring. As their past issues have been accompanied by readings and other community projects it's a safe bet to say that this aspect of my work with Rough Copy will fit well with the "pedagogical art" side of this class.
My contacts at Rough Copy are Ashawnta Jackson, managing editor and talented poetess, and Janet Freeman, executive editor, talented writer, and currently in absentia while she works on the above in the spacious wilds of Arizona (I think...I might have to double check that). In any case, most of my work will be done with Ashawnta, whose talent and hard work I am eagerly waiting to be a part of.
Further bulletins as events warrant, may everyone have a lovely time between now and then.
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