Brooklyn’s Indie Lit Impresarios!
Why are you doing this?
Like other forms of popular art—music, books, movies—people need a new way to consume short stories that’s internet friendly. I want to make it as easy, no-reason-not-to easy, for casual readers to find and read great literary fiction from diverse sources. That’s why Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading is free and publishes online—you can click straight through from Facebook or Twitter, follow us on Tumblr, and never be without something great to read.
Is there something particular to Brooklyn Lit beyond geography?
Everyone’s doing it.
Who’s your favorite writer we’ve never heard of?
Cody Adams. We had workshop together in college, and I still talk about the stories that he wrote for that class, including ones he claims not to remember. I believe his first publication is forthcoming in the Michigan Quarterly Review. And Joshua Harmon who wrote a beautiful novel called Quinnehtukqut, and a book of poems, Le Spleen de Poughkeepsie, which will mean a lot to anyone who has ever lived in Poughkeepsie or any other down-trodden American city.
Do you also write yourself?
Yes. I’m really excited to have a story coming out in one of my favorite fiction magazines, One Story, later this year.
What’s your day job?
This. Electric Literature.
What impact do you think Brooklyn Lit has had on the publishing world at large?
There are so many great presses and magazines coming out of Brooklyn—Bomb, A Public Space, One Story, Melville House, Akashic, Verso to name a few. By sheer volume and quality of output, Brooklyn Lit has to be pretty influential. I also think Brooklyn is a place where people are willing to try new things and be early adaptors of new technologies. We’re on the front lines.
What does the future look like for Brooklyn Lit?
Pretty soon, the print vs. digital conversation has to be old news. We’ll keep doing both, and gradually the stigma will be lifted from very useful digital tools like self-publishing and reading online.