In truth, success is not always such a mean, linear progression. Those who do get ahead – in writing and publishing, not to mention less-literary pursuits – get there with a little help from their peers. That’s the idea behind Slice, the Brooklyn-based literary magazine where new voices get a boost when printed alongside interviews by more famous ones.

Slice was founded in 2006 when two Random House editorial assistants, Maria Gagliano and Celia Johnson, were disappointed that publishing didn’t focus more on helping up-and-comers. Even from their entry-level vantage points, they could see that too much attention was focused on existing platforms. In founding Slice, the pair hoped to create their own platform for identifying bright new voices and ushering them towards future publication and praise. They do this by featuring stories, poems, and essays by new writers next to interviews by legendary authors like Salman Rushdie and Ray Bradbury.

These side-by-side pairings of famous writers with less famous ones sets the tone for the magazine. Like its subtitle, “A Room Full of Voices,” the magazine reads like a fabulous dinner party where Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz shares his stories while sitting beside a previously unpublished author from Mexico City. Slice is a journal with a spirit of collaboration more than competition.

While its readership crosses the nation, Slice frequently makes reference to its own literary community: Brooklyn. Interviews with literary borough ambassadors Paul Auster and Jonathan Lethem offer insights into the local culture, and a playful “Literary Tour of Brooklyn” on the back pages of Issue 8 tells you that the best place to stalk famous writers is certainly the Brooklyn Flea. Slice’s sense of community is an expansive one, though. They are just as likely to print a startling short story about the Great Plains (Rob Roensch’s wonderful “Oklahoma City”) as they are to discuss the trees growing in Brooklyn during Maurice Sendak’s childhood (from a not-to-be-missed interview in the recently released Issue 9!).

Taking the camaraderie off the page, the editors also maintain a Twitter/Tumblr feed, called CoverSpy, of what folks are reading on the subway, and they host events where they foster the book-loving community. The magazine comes to life during these unique, live interactions between emerging and established writers.  Slice events range from literary game shows, readings, and parties to a recent writers’ conference. At each event, new readers discover Slice and not only subscribe to the journal, but also take part in the community they have helped cultivate.

Now in its fourth year of publication, Slice has seen some of the young writers they publish progress in their careers. The first issue of Slice contained work by Patricia Engel, for example, whose first book, Vida, was later a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Fiction Award, and Barnes & Noble’s “Best Book of the Year.”  And in the years since its first issue, Slice itself has thrived, too. Issue 9 (theme: “Into the Wild”) is on newsstands now, and Issue 10 is on the way in March.

Between her duties at Slice and those as an editor with the Hachette Book Group, Celia Johnson took a moment to answer our questions:

What is the role of Slice in today’s literary community, be it for readers or writers?

Slice is designed to bridge the gap between emerging and established writers, to spark a dialogue between the two groups, and to help new voices find an audience, both in our magazine and beyond.

How do you see Slice’s mission and tastes evolving in the next two years?  Will the rise of digital publishing impact the composition of Slice?

We are excited about all of the new opportunities that are evolving from the digital growth of publishing.  We do plan to publish the magazine online (in addition to print) at some point in the near future.  Right now, we feature excerpts using Issuu on our website (if you haven’t checked out Issuu yet, we suggest taking a look–they’re at the forefront of online publishing!).  We are posting more unique content on our website (story and interview excerpts, a literary calendar for events in New York, newsy items about the book world, blog posts).

We also have a Twitter/Tumblr feed called CoverSpy that has received rave reviews from the press.  A team of undercover Slice spies hit the New York City streets and post the covers that they spot, in addition to brief descriptions of the people they see reading them. CoverSpy offers a unique blend of old (featuring print covers) and new (featuring them via an online outlet).

If you could put three items in a time capsule (or USB drive) to be opened in 1,000 years that would provide a snapshot of Slice’s aesthetic today, what would they be?

Junot Diaz. Photo by Christopher Peterson.

Our interview with New York Times–bestselling and award-winning author Junot Diaz from Issue 1. Junot supported Slice from the very beginning, simply because he believed in the cause. Since that point, a large number of renowned authors have jumped on the bandwagon, from one issue to the next, but he was our first heavy-hitter.

Any of our published work—fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—from new voices would capture the spirit of the magazine. They’re an eclectic bunch of pieces, but they all share one common thread: we couldn’t put them down. From our most recent issue, we’d pick “Her Own Special Touch” by Jackie Shannon Hollis, “Country Miles” by Colin Fleming, and “Winter Harbor” by Elizabeth Bevilacqua.

A recent cover of Slice. Our covers feature artwork by local Brooklyn artists. Amy Sly, our art director, has made Slice a standout visual magazine, with a two-color design and stunning illustrations from local artists that compliment the poetry and prose.

What album is playing on the Slice stereo these days?

The Band has recently taken over Explosions in the Sky.

To see a preview of Issue 9, visit Slice’s website, or better yet, consider subscribing to the journal to receive a bi-annual treat in your mailbox. Back issues are also available in bundles. Writers just starting out or those more established can submit stories, essays, or poems.

Image via Housing Works website

And proving yet again that camaraderie beats ladder-climbing any day, Slice is teaming up with Housing Works Bookstore this December to host a “Literary Magazine Office Party” for their fellow journal editors and interns. Since most literary magazines don’t have their own offices and thus lack office holiday parties, the generous folks at Slice and Housing Works are bringing out the karaoke machine and a white elephant gift exchange for their peers to enjoy. For details, keep an eye on Slice’s website in the next few weeks.

A successful magazine that doesn’t kick the competition? That’s a
“Room Full of Voices” that both readers and writers will want to join.

As a special bonus to readers of Fiction Writers Review, we’ll be giving away three free subscriptions to Slice! If you’d like to be eligible for this week’s drawing (and all future ones), please visit our Twitter Page and “follow” us.

The Magathon: Saturday, June 11th, 4-6:30 PM
New York Public Library’s DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room, 5th Ave. at 42nd St.

In this “marathon” reading, editors of lit journals will present selections from their first issues.

The GIANT Lit Mag Fair at Housing Works: Sunday, June 12th, 11-4PM
Housing Works Used Book Café, 126 Crosby Street in Soho

Lucky you, New Yorkers—you can pick up tons of lit mags for only $2 a copy! Magazines from all over the country will be represented, and many of their editors will be there to meet and greet as well. Says the newsletter, “Proceeds go to Housing Works, a nonprofit organization serving homeless people living with AIDS, and to The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, a nonprofit organization serving independent literary publishers.”

Both events are free and open to the public.

Well, if you’re in Brooklyn, there’s always the first annual Fake AWP. Slice Magazine has the scoop:

To provide a haven for those either too broke, too busy, or too disillusioned (with the fact that really it ought to be AWWP, jeez) to attend the massive four-day conference in Washington, D.C., an assortment of Brooklyn writers and editors are taking over Brooklyn Winery from 8pm to 10pm on Friday, February 4th. Even as AWP tackles some of the most pressing issues facing authors, publishers, and academics, Fake AWP will be addressing brunch, snark, literary crushes, and whatever it is Jim Behrle thinks about all day.

Audience participation will be encouraged, with the potential to earn the title of Fake Dean of American Letters.

Presenters include Tobias Carroll, Jason Diamond, C.A.B. Fredericks, Jim Hanas, Caitlin MacRae, and the aforementioned Jim Behrle. (Via.)

And, for those who ARE lucky enough to be in DC for the real AWP, check out these events at the conference featuring FWR contributors, and stop by the FWR table (Table B-18) to say hi!

– Events kick off on Saturday at 4 PM with The Magathon at the New York Public Library (main branch: Fifth Ave @ 42nd Street). For 2.5 hours, a number of journal editors will present favorite selections from their latest issues.

– Then on Sunday from noon to 5, get your discounted periodical fix at the 11th Annual Literary Magazine Fair (also known as the Giant Lit Mag Fair) at Housing Works Bookstore Café (126 Crosby St.). Hundreds of mags will be marked down…some by more than 50%! Meet the editors and learn more about the staggering variety of literary magazines/journals seeking new work and new readers.

If you can’t make it next weekend but want to learn more about what lit journals are out there–and what they’re looking for–the CLMP is currently offering its annually updated Literary Press and Magazine Directory for only $20.

I frequently happen upon Selected Shorts on NPR midway through a story and go through a predictable course of thinking: I’ve missed the first part of the story. I should just download the podcast and hear it from the top. Wow, that sentence was brilliant. What the heck is going on here? And then I end up listening to the conclusion of the story and enjoying it immensely.

Now that I’m in New York, I hope to make it to one of the live stage performances of Selected Shorts. If you’re lucky enough to already have a ticket, on May 26th Selected Shorts will celebrate the stories of This American Life with an evening featuring Ira Glass, Mike Birbiglia and Elna Baker. Just in time for Short Story Month, this evening is also a part of New York Book Week. I’m excited for the Audience Favorites performance on June 9, when three stories nominated and chosen by listeners over the past season will be read onstage.

But no matter where you are, a short story read aloud is a very fine thing, so check out your local library or bookstore to see if any authors are visiting or giving readings. I’ve also been thinking a short story supper club might be the busy friends’ solution to the book group. Each week or month, one person could read a favorite short story after dinner or over a cup of coffee, discussion to follow. Pre-reading not a requirement.

What are some of your ideas about how to celebrate the read-out-loud story?

Next Monday, March 22, at 7:30 PM, Brooklyn’s Greenlight Bookstore continues their Blogger/Author Pairings series, wherein lit bloggers host and talk with authors whose books they love, and the authors read from their work. Next up is Brooklyn’s own blogger/critic Maud Newton (of MaudNewton.com, one of the finest lit blogs, exclamation point) and award-winning author Victor LaValle, whose work has drawn comparisons to the likes of Ralph Ellison, Shirley Jackson, and Thomas Pyncheon, and whose novel (of the same title) inspired Mos Def’s The Ecstatic. LaValle will read from and discuss his new novel Big Machine, which Greenlight’s newsletter describes as “the story of a middle-aged hustler inducted into a band of paranormal investigators.” New York-based readers can RSVP on Facebook or just show up. Greenlight is located at 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn.

I love this idea of organizing blogger/author pairings at a local indie bookstore; inviting a respected blogger who loves a particular book to join that book’s author offline, in a face-to-face dialogue with readers, affords a rare opportunity for publicity and community: a chance to support books, bookstores, and lit blogs all at once. Is this kind of event happening throughout the country? Because it should be!

If you could host and talk with any author, at any bookstore, who would you introduce, and where would it be?

Stanger-Ross conceives her lonely seamstress masterfully and completely, down to the embarrassment Sima feels when caught staring at Timna’s perfect breasts. As Sima’s obsession with Timna’s lively presence in her life grows, so does the pathos of her longing. A rekindled yearning for motherhood carries Sima through emotions akin to romantic love: fascination, passion, jealousy and revelation. For Sima, Timna is the daughter she wished for, and the fulfillment of dreams she thought died long ago. When Timna comes to work at Sima’s Undergarments for Women, those dreams flourish anew. Sima plans conversations, jokes to tell, all the while storing up Timna’s smiles and intimacies like talismans against unhappiness. Early in Timna’s tenure at the shop, Sima cooks an elaborate Rosh Hashanah meal, and Lev teases her that she cooked for an army. Sima “pressed her nail into her hand to try to check her eagerness and hoped that, with the table so covered in food, it did not look bizarre, desperate.” The truth is, Sima is desperate, but it would be a challenge to find a human being anywhere who had not been there himself.

Ilana Stanger-Ross

One of the many pleasures of Sima’s Undergarments for Women is its intimate scope. In just over 300 pages, Stanger-Ross unfurls Sima’s entire adult life, from newlywed to matron of a successful underwear shop that provides a haven for the women and girls of Boro Park, a social hub of the community. There is boisterous Connie, Sima’s best friend since childhood, who cannot fathom the depth of her friend’s sadness at not being able to conceive. Connie’s husband Art practices law, and harbors secrets of his own. The bras, too, are described in loving detail: “a deep green bra with leaf-embroidered straps and an ivory tulle demi-cup popular with brides” which against Timna’s skin becomes “a lizard asleep on desert sand.” Sima is a master, and passages where she fits clients, or intuits their desires before they know them, hold all the delight of watching an artist at work. Much of the story takes place in the little basement shop, and one sees how rich and complex Sima’s life has been, in spite of her hidden grief.

Boro Park, Brooklyn (2007) / photo by MASCURAK, flickr cc

Timna becomes not only the object of Sima’s affection, but a lens that turns Sima inward, uncovering a secret that she’s concealed from everyone around her, even Lev. A lifetime of keeping her own counsel has stoked Sima’s fear of being left by those she loves. Looking at Timna, Sima longs to give advice: “Let me take care of you, she wanted to say, let me be there for you. The words burned the back of her throat, but she did not let them out.” The contrast between youth and age, between Timna’s life ahead of her, and Sima trundling up the stairs to Lev in his undershirt is one of the underpinnings of the novel. Sima marvels at this difference while still a young woman, riding the train back from another disheartening doctor’s appointment:

How strange she though, as she scanned the subway car, that each one here had once been cooed over, doted on: white ribbons carefully tied beneath their soft chins, scallop-trimmed cotton hats centered on wispy-haired scalps. Each had been a baby like the one she coveted, now grown to mediocrity: this one a mole on her chin with the obligatory curl jutting from it; another a pale belly not quite concealed by a gray oil-stained tee.

Sure, things fall apart, but as Tennyson’s Ulysses says, “something ere the end,/ Some work of noble note, may yet be done”. Sima may not fulfill all of her dreams through Timna, but the presence of the girl reminds the old woman what it is to dream, and what it feels like to tell the truth. Sima contemplates revealing her secret as a kind of warning to headstrong Timna, but fear constrains her.

As terrible as it was to admit her own flawed history, it would be worse still to observe its effect: the disbelief with which the long-ago stories of the old were inevitably met, the pain of watching Timna realize, so you were young once, too.

Sima may not be able to confess all to Timna, but through her love for this young woman, she may yet forgive herself and rebuild her own family.

Extras

Ilana Stanger-Ross signs copies of Sima / photo from Penguin Group (Canada) on flickr

- You can read an excerpt from Sima’s Undergarments for Women via the website She Knows.

- Listen to a podcast interview with Ilana Stanger-Ross at Single Women Rule.

- At the author’s website, read a Q&A with Ilana Stanger-Ross, as well as her blog on Judaism, writing, bras, midwifery, and more.

- View a slideshow of some of the inhabitants of Boro (Borough) Park, Brooklyn, where Sima’s story is set, on the New York Times website.

- Visit Indiebound to order Sima’s Undergarments for Women from any independent bookstore–or locate a local shop where you can pick up a copy.

- Learn more about indie publisher Overlook Press, who published the novel in hardcover. The paperback edition is forthcoming this June from Penguin.

A lot has been given to us at Greenlight Bookstore. It’s high time for us to give back.

The earthquake in Haiti has affected many of our Brooklyn neighbors, and we want to do what we can to assist in the relief efforts there.

So, this weekend, Saturday January 23 and Sunday January 24, Greenlight Bookstore will donate 10% of all sales before tax to the American Red Cross for Haiti relief.

With your purchase at Greenlight this weekend, your book-buying dollars can contribute to something greater. And read on for a chance to partner with co-owner Rebecca Fitting to do even more good.

Thanks for all the support you’ve offered us. We hope you’ll join us in offering our support to the organizations working to help the people of Haiti.

Best,
Greenlight Bookstore

A challenge from Rebecca

At Greenlight we have been very fortunate in the short life of our new bookstore and we are mindful of it every day. We are thankful for our store’s good fortune, and for our own personal fortune for living in a part of the world that has an infrastructure and amenities that are sorely lacking elsewhere. The past week’s news about Haiti is an especially tragic event and it makes us want to give back in return. With that very much in mind, Greenlight Bookstore is pledging to donate 10% of our store’s sales for Sat 1/23-Sun 1/24 to the Red Cross for aid to Haiti.

Taking this a step further, if any customer is willing to match the bookstore’s donation of 10% of the weekend’s sales, I will also personally match what the store donates. Just think – if you pledge to match Greenlight Bookstore’s donation, all of a sudden one sum becomes tripled because I will do the same. That’s some strength in numbers, for sure, and it would mean a lot to me if one (or a few) of you would step up to this challenge.

If you stop by the store today, author Nick Flynn will be signing copies of his new memoir, The Ticking is the Bomb (portions of which appeared in Tin House, Esquire, and Open City), at 3 PM.

Greenlight Bookstore is located at 686 Fulton Street (corner of S. Portland) in Brooklyn, NY. / Hours: 10 AM – 10 PM Monday through Saturday, 12 noon – 8 PM Sunday

On the one hand, I picture a quiet afternoon writing in this shop, imagining that Wharton once shared my same view of a (much changed) street.

And on the other…I’m envisioning a new walking tour for NYC: “Starbucks and the City.” In my fantasy (wherein the coffee giant would not sue), tourists would amble from identical looking shop to shop whilst a green-aproned guide lectured on what once stood there or who once lived in the building. In addition to excavating layers of city history, this would also highlight the loss of independently owned businesses in Manhattan as franchises and chains buy up all the real estate. Oh, to go back in time and visit that flower shop with its weird giant stuffed bears!