Announcement

The Anti-A.I. Journal

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THE A.I. DESTROYER


ANTITHESIS OF ARTIFICIALITY

Yes, the robot-busting publication expressive of human authenticity is already here. We anticipated the A.I. assault and the response needed– which is, affirmation of the skill, craft, intelligence, and good humor of human beings.

Put together by hand, produced in limited quantities, with emphasis on art and style, FUN POP POETRY SPECIAL EDITION is guaranteed to be Robot Free. All poems within were written by actual human beings.

Our zeens, as we call them, mark a return to the DIY authenticity of print zines, but taken to the next level of quality. The idea behind a zeen or zine is that you can hold it in your hand. With its tangible reality it’s something you can definitely NOT experience online. NOT processed by a dystopian megaconglomerate at far remove from individual artistry. With all of Walter Benjamin’s aura about it. NOT merely seen on a screen.

ZEENS are a step toward what we call post-A.I. culture: emphasis on real-world actuality. Like impressionist art– or punk rock– we seek to give people the “shock of the real.”

Here is your opportunity to fight the insanity. To rebel against the takeover of the culture and our minds by a handful of superplutocratic hyper-billionaire technological geeks. Help put ChatGPT and its like into the trashcan of history!

Order your authentic copy of Fun Pop Poetry SE at our POP SHOP today.

A Happiness Assault!

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WITH CHRISTMAS and the other holidays upon us, we plan to finish the year with a campaign of pure happiness. Well needed when everyone seems stressed out and beaten down from the craziness of the world around us.

Our antidote to the harshness of the world comes in the form of a simple print publication: a Special Edition of our latest zeen, Fun Pop Poetry. Amazing words and colors to brighten up anyone’s day– from artists Monica Morgan and Alexandria Root, and poets Blixa Bel Grande, Scott Cannon, Emerson Dameron, Wred Fright, Courtenay Schembri Gray, Craig Kurtz, Christopher Landrum, Dan Nielsen, John D. Robinson, Joe Santi aka Tarzana Joe, Chrissi Sepe, Ellsworth B. Smith, Richard Stevenson, and S.F. Wright.

That’s a lot of talent in one slim and artsy poetry booklet!

Order your smile at our POP SHOP— red cover or yellow. Do it for yourself, (or purchase two and give one as a gift).

What Is the Literary Future?

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THOUGHTS ON NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH


WHERE are we all of us– editors, writers, readers– headed as a literary community? An artistic community?

These are questions that will be addressed during our one-hour appearance at the Trenton Veterans Memorial Library, 2790 Westfield Road in Trenton, Michigan, for National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. New Pop Lit editors Karl Wenclas and Kathleen M. Crane will be prepared to discuss all things literary.

THIS COMING SATURDAY, November 19, beginning at 2 pm.

All are welcome.

(You can register in advance at 734-676-9777.)

Thanks!

Editor’s Podcast Appearance

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NEW POP LIT‘S Editor Karl Wenclas made a recent appearance on the estimable Contra Mundum Media podcast, which is dedicated to exploring new ideas in the culture and the arts. The host of the podcast is Christopher Laurence.

Take a listen:

Our First Contest Winner

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WE’RE HAPPY to announce the winner of our first contest, Tom Ray, for the story “What He Thought Was Right.”

The original Announcement.

The winner:

The prize ($$$) is on its way to Mr. Ray.

The winning story will be published some time during the month of April. We’ll briefly discuss then why it’s an excellent story which incorporates multidimensional viewpoints. OR: You’ll be able to read the story and see for yourself!

REMINDER: This is just the first of several contests with monetary prizes. Soon: one involving our Open Mic feature.

DON’T MISS ANY OF IT!

The Board

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NEW POP LIT ANNOUNCES ADVISORY BOARD

DO WE have all the answers? Not at all! As we move forward, we’ve decided to enlist observers for advice and input, laying the groundwork for improvement and growth. Therefore: an Advisory Board.

We start with five individuals who’ve all been published at our site or/and our publications and are supportive of what we’re doing. They represent a range of ages, writing styles, thought patterns, experiences and viewpoints. The idea is to have this project looked at three-dimensionally, while maintaining an overall positive vibe, which is critical for the success of any endeavor– especially one as ambitious as ours.

(We intend to add more names to the Advisory Board, as this project moves ahead.)

The five are:

NICK GALLUP: Accomplished short story writer. Among his several feature stories for us was “Just Another Silly Love Song.”

CHRISTOPHER LANDRUM: Literary historian, essayist, and theorist. His feature story for us was “The Age of Insomnia.”

TOM PREISLER: Talented musician and poet. Tom’s poetry feature for us was “Love Poetry/Prose from Tom Preisler.”

CHRISSI SEPE: Novelist, story writer, and memoirist. Chrissi has written for our zeens ZEENITH and Literary Fan Magazine. Her online story feature for NPL was “We Love to Watch Zee Cockroaches.”

FRANK D. WALSH: Long-time Philadelphia poetry icon. Frank’s poem “Spectre of the Rose” was excerpted in Extreme Zeen #1, and also here at our site.

<<<>>>

(Again, we’ll be adding a few more names– more input, more viewpoints on what we’re doing.)

State of the Site 2022

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NEW POP LIT ENTERS A NEW YEAR

THE BIG NEWS for the New Pop Lit project is our receiving a “Creators of Culture” grant from a wonderful Detroit-based arts organization named Culture Source. As near as we can determine, we qualified based on several criterion:

-Our EIC’s long history of promoting overlooked writers, notably in the 2000s with the Underground Literary Alliance.

-New Pop Lit’s focus on artistic innovation and design, including with our one-of-a-kind publications. “Craft publishing”: the idea to make our publications as creative and non-generic as possible.

-Our continued experimentation with literary form. This includes our behind-the-scenes effort to completely reinvent the short story, ongoing.

The starting point for everything we do is that the literary status quo isn’t good enough.

THE FUTURE

We’ll use the graciously-awarded funds not solely to keep this project operating (it’s been touch-and-go at times), but chiefly to discover and spotlight new writing and artistic talent, with more focus on talent in metro Detroit and environs.

Toward those ends, we’ll hold a contest or three, with monetary prizes.

The grant will also enable us to create more print publications. A portion of the award will be spent on necessary equipment and supplies. (Notably, paper and ink!)

The intelligent universe has conspired to keep us ongoing a while longer. As long as New Pop Lit lasts, we’ll aspire to achieve amazing arts breakthroughs– or at least one!

Stay informed via our Coming Soon page. Thanks.

XXX

Welcome 2022!

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THE PAST TWO YEARS have been tough ones for us, as for a lot of people. We plan to turn things around in 2022 (have already begun to)– and turn New Pop Lit into a more viable and exciting project.

Within days we’ll post at this blog a “State of the Site” announcement discussing what’s been happening.

IN THE MEANTIME, a few goals:

1.) A lot of talented new writers are out there. We haven’t failed to notice. (Good poker players that we both are, we don’t miss a thing.) We intend to connect with more of those writers.

2.) We have to do a lot more to sell our unique aesthetic ideas to literary people, and beyond. We’ll do so.

Those ideas center around:

DESIGN

New designs of writing and presentations of writing. For both aspects, we favor a modified 20th century modernist aesthetic. Meaning, clear, colorful, and stylish. Cultural chaos is everywhere. To be truly different, an arts project should offer an alternative to the chaos. Escape from the madness.

CLARITY (of thought and presentation) is important to us, as a foundation to build upon in endeavors to connect literature to a larger swath of the general public.

3.) At some point soon enough we’ll need to add more contributors to our staff– those in general synch with what we’re about, who can bring with them new ideas to supplement ours. As a project we’re foremost an expression of ideas.

Currently KMC and I work drudge day jobs. But give us enough time and help and we’ll unleash the full potential of this ambitious project. That’s the goal.

Thanks for your interest!

–Karl Wenclas

Our Pushcart Nominations for 2021 and Why

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THE REASON FOR OUR CHOICES

THE GOAL with Pushcart nominations isn’t the nominations themselves– though they’re important in giving plaudits to many of those generous enough to let us publish their work– but to have a nomination selected for publication in the collection. Toward that end, every year we’ve been sending the work of our nominees in an increasingly eye-catching, colorful presentation. (Consistent with our aesthetic.) This includes envelope, cover letter, and tear sheets of the works themselves. “Is it possible to stand out among hundreds, maybe thousands of mailings?” is the question.

IN the materials Pushcart Press sends publishers, they make it clear they prefer nominations from actual print publications. This is in keeping with their name. Though we ran an excellent array of stories, poems, and non-fiction at our site, from some of the best writers in the literary realm, we’ve decided this year to choose our nominations strictly from our two 2021 print publications. “Zeens”– which in their ethos and reality embody everything Bill Henderson sought to honor when he began his annual anthology. Zeens– in-house produced; hand made– define an upstart press.

The selections we’ve made from the two issues are outstanding. Attention-getting themselves?

HERE ARE OUR CHOICES:

From Literary Fan Magazine #1, published March 2021:

-“How I Survived 2020,” non-fiction by Chrissi Sepe.

-“On Translation,” non-fiction by Andrea Gregovich.

From Extreme Zeen #2, published June 2021:

-“Black Hole,” poetry by Rose Knapp.

-“Tom Preisler 4,” poetry by Tom Preisler.

-“Fuel Injection,” poetry by Tom Will.

-“You Are You,” fiction by Jo Bloomfield.

Many thanks to all the writers online and off who allowed us to feature their work!