Former Paris Review editor to start new literary magazine
HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer. Associated Press. New York: May 18, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) -- At the end of the year, the changing field of literary magazines will likely be joined by a new name: A Public Space.
It is notable for at least two reasons: The editor is Brigid Hughes, George Plimpton’s successor at The Paris Review, and the focus will be on two art forms no longer in fashion—fiction and poetry.
Magazines such as Collier’s and The Atlantic Monthly once served as starting points and sustainers for poets and fiction writers, from Wallace Stevens to F. Scott Fitzgerald, but few major publications highlight such work anymore. Hughes’ contract was not renewed at The Paris Review earlier this year, amid reports that the board of directors wanted more nonfiction and a more commercial approach.
“I really think there’s a place for a magazine that puts literature center stage, reminds us of why we read stories and why we read poems,” says Hughes, Plimpton’s protege at The Paris Review who took over as editor after he died in 2003.
In the tradition of The Paris Review, Hughes’ magazine will come out four times a year and emphasize fiction and poetry, by both new and established authors. Hughes wants her magazine to be the kind of place where writers can publish a 60-page short story, where they feel that their vision, not the editors’, matters most.
But A Public Space will also be different. While The Paris Review has emphasized the writing process, especially in its celebrated “Writers at Work” interviews, Hughes would like to help her authors get “away from their desks more.” She plans a “fieldwork” grant program that will allow for travel and research, such as letting an author visit a city that will serve as the setting for a historical novel.
“Fieldwork” was also one of many titles Hughes considered for the new publication. However, she decided on “A Public Space,” liking the idea “of a magazine as a space of exchange, this collection of different voices and ideas.”
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Hughes majored in English at Northwestern University and soon after graduation joined The Paris Review as an intern. From her many years working under the famously fun-loving Plimpton, she learned that “Dewars is a fine brand of scotch, how to make a trick pool shot, and why editing a literary magazine is the best job in the world.”
Hughes plans to base her magazine in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she currently lives. She already has recruited a pair of well-regarded writers—Richard Powers and Yiyun Li—to work as contributing editors, and has been touch with several departed Paris Review staffers.
“Brigid has this amazing passion for new writing and new writers,” says Elizabeth Gaffney, a former board member, Paris Review editor and author of Metropolis, a novel set in 19th- century New York.
“I loved working with her when she was running The Paris Review and I’d like to continue working with her, whatever she does.”
The Paris Review helped establish countless authors, from Philip Roth to Jeffrey Eugenides, but rarely had more than a few thousand subscribers and relied on Plimpton’s charm and connections to stay in business. C. Michael Curtis, senior editor for fiction at The Atlantic Monthly, said magazines devoted to fiction and poetry have almost never been profitable and that A Public Space will need a “backer with a lot of money who wants to spend it.”
“Fiction has always been a part of magazines, including a number of successful ones, because it was thought to be a critical ingredient. But that’s not the same as saying it helped make those magazines profitable,” says Curtis, whose magazine recently reduced fiction coverage to a single annual issue.
“You can make a magazine profitable either by selling a huge number of ads or by charging enough for the magazine to pay for printing and distribution costs. I can’t think of many literary magazines that have stayed in business a long time by doing either of those things.”
Hughes says she is receiving financial support from the publishing, business and film communities and that her magazine will be funded through “private donors, grants, subscription revenue and advertising.” She declines to offer a specific goal for her subscriber base, but aims for a higher number than at The Paris Review. An annual subscription will cost $36, for four issues, while individual copies will likely cost $10-12, compared to $40 a year for a subscription at The Paris Review and $12 for a single issue.
“I think there's a healthy rivalry among literary magazines,” says Hughes, who adds that she does not see herself in competition with her former employer. “It keeps us on our toes, and creates an energy and momentum that's valuable to everyone.”
