I blog, le riviste letterarie. Che fare?
(Questo post è disponibile su Asia Literary Review di Hong Kong, dove tengo un blog.)
What is a blog? And what is a literary review?
Recently I heard some bad news. Chutzpah Tian Nan, a great literary magazine run by Ou Ning, shut down after its 16th issue. That was no surprise: how could they sustain themselves? Each issue had a new editor, with twenty to thirty short stories (or poems) written in Chinese or translated into Chinese from different languages. There was also an insert, Peregrine, where some Chinese stories (or poems) where translated into English for us, the international public: readers and professionals. Chutzpah Tian Nan had beautiful graphic design: Ou Ning himself started his career as a graphic designer.
MediaCorp, the publishing company, just told them, “OK boys (and girls) we are losing money here. It was expected”.
I am not surprised. I come from a country, Italy, where just one long time running literary review on paper is still alive: Nuovi Argomenti, originally founded by Moravia, then run by prominent authors such as Siciliano and Maraini. Most reviews now shifted to literary blogs, and when I say blog I do not mean just a website where bloggers are hosted, but real magazines online, with editors, contributors and weekly new editions. You save costs: there is no printing, no distribution, and a graphic platform to write on once it’s been conceived and set up. Continua su Asia Literary Review
Categoria: Cina | Uncategorized