Online literary magazines have long been the sad step-sister of print. But in case you haven’t heard, print’s dying. Instead of wringing your hands over the future of publishing, you could accept that it’s arrived, and that it’s called the internet.
Online mags have really stepped up their game, and it’s time to pay them a little respect. Below is a selection of some of the best, publications that feature fancy important writers and exciting new ones. They take risks, they surprise and satisfy, they’re free and they don’t kill trees. The future is already happening, you just need to stop ignoring it.
Guernica “Describing itself as “a magazine of art & politics,” Guernica’s home page tends to emphasize the “politics,” and they do offer excellent and insightful political essays. But we’re here to focus on the art part. In addition to essays, interviews, poetry, and art, the site publishes fiction fairly regularly, and every few months features a well-respected guest editor (Ben Marcus, Dawn Raffel, George Saunders, etc). Stories short and long come from a satisfying blend of big names and emerging talent.