I’m thinking about all…

I'm thinking about all the writers whom we had to reject from the first and second issues of Jaggery. I'm hoping they are reading those issues, that they're reading them from start to finish. The fiction, the poetry, the essays, the reviews -- even the art. If you say desi lit mag, there are actually a lot of different directions that could go, and if you read even just the two issues we've put out so far, I think a certain aesthetic is starting to emerge. We like innovative, transgressive, transitional texts. We like perspectives that are very grounded in a certain place and time, but also those that are transnational.

If you want to publish with us, then hopefully reading what we've selected so far will inspire you, will help you find (or write) the kind of writing that we're likely to publish. But even if you don't like what we've selected so far, that's going to be helpful too -- either it'll tell you this may not be the journal for you, or, perhaps, you'll figure out how to blow us away with someone new, something in a different paradigm. Sometimes I go to readings and I'm inspired. Sometimes I go to readings and I'm bored, or irritated by a writer writing poorly, and my mind starts wandering, and I come up with something new.

Generally, if you're a writer wanting to publish in a magazine, and you haven't read at least an issue of the magazine, cover to cover (or the electronic equivalent), I think you're making a big mistake.

We open to submissions again on this Saturday, March 1st. This would be an excellent week to search through your work and decide what you're going to submit. Or perhaps write something new!