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OCTOBER 2006 |
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A Review of All Hands On: A The2ndHand Reader
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On Their Own Terms Over the last five years or so, Chicago has become a haven to many independent writers, fostering a grassroots literary scene that is one of the most lively and vibrant in the country. Innovative writing programs at universities such as Columbia College, Roosevelt University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago are graduating writers with the know-how and ambition to put inspiration on the page, and they do so in interesting ways. From online magazines to traditional print journals and everything in between, the amount of literary work available in Chicago is staggering. Zines, which are homegrown publications of a few works per issue, usually printed at a Kinko’s and assembled by hand in the creator’s apartment, abound, taking up many racks to sometimes entire walls at independent bookstores. These zines contain anything from personal essays, to poems, to interpretations or op-ed pieces, the whole idea behind a zine being you can write whatever you feel and not have to worry about any kind of organized publishing—all you have to do is front the money for the printing, and have the guts to take your work out into the world to show people. Many of these zines come and go, some releasing only a few issues before they die off, but one that has withstood the harsh world of independent publishing is The2ndHand: an online literary magazine and broadsheet published quarterly. Editor and publisher Todd Dills started the magazine in 2000 with a friend in a West Side apartment, distributing the plain-looking publication by essentially going door to door, relying on local businesses to carry a few copies of each issue. The modest zine published some of the most cutting edge fiction available, everything from itineraries or daily to-do lists with fictional arcs, as well as many other kinds of meta-fiction. The chances Dills was willing to take with the material he chose to publish is what has made the magazine such a staple in the city’s literary landscape, today the print editions of the The2ndHand being distributed nationwide in small quantities. In 2004, after four years of existence, Dills decided to publish All Hands On: A 2ndHand Reader, a collection of some of the best work from the magazine’s lifespan, an achievement that many zines never even dream about. The collection has garnered rave reviews nationwide, and is a must read for any short story writer or zinster. It is safe to say The2ndHand has helped expose some of the literary voices that Chicago is proud to call their own, and one of those voices is Joe Meno. Meno, an alumni of and professor in the Fiction Writing Department at Columbia College, is the author of the cult-smash Hairstyles of the Damned, and the eagerly anticipated The Boy Detective Fails. Meno may very well be the champion of the indie scene, the winner of 2003 Nelson Algren award for short fiction—a contest sponsored by The Chicago Tribune which publishes and awards 5,000 dollars to the best work of fiction. He has also gained national notoriety for his short stories, as well as being a contributing writer and editor for Punk Planet, a flagship of independent publishing in Chicago. A bi-monthly publication with a circulation of about 14,000 nation-wide, Punk Planet is a highly regarded outlet for all types of independent media: artwork, essays, music, and short fiction. The magazine has become a counter-culture beacon, and a major magazine in many cities across the country.
The keyword throughout this whole article has been independent, the idea that the literary scene in Chicago has been untouched by corporate hands and allowed to come to fruition on its own. But why? Why, in a city with such a corrupt mayoral history and a big business backing attitude—Boeing, Sears, and United Airlines all have homes in Chicago—has something so grassroots and homemade flourished? What has contributed to the explosion of literary life in the Windy City? Brian Costello, author of the Rock N’ Roll coming-of-age novel The Enchanters Vs. Spawlburg Springs, Featherproof Books' first release, says it has more to do with the city itself than the people in it. “It’s a walking city. You get more ideas walking than you do driving.” Costello is a product of and a professor in the Fiction Writing at Columbia College Chicago, along with Joe Meno. Costello also points to the abundance of inspiration that comes from such a big city. “Because it's a walking city, everything about America is in your face, 24/7,” says Costello, whose own short fiction has been featured in a number of literary magazines including the The2ndHand. “All these issues that exist for most people either on TV or textbooks. It's a never-ending gangbang between the absolute best and worst of humanity.” The reason for the success of the Chicago scene is the networking that goes on. A majority of the writing and publishing that goes on in Chicago is done by friends and colleagues who believe and trust in the value of the work that is being created; people who are passionate about literature and storytelling, who entrust others to help them make their story available. There is a kinship or brotherhood among writers in Chicago, an idea that they are all a band of artists coming together as one to create and tell some powerful stories, an overall very Rock N’ Roll atmosphere that is needed to turn the dusty literary world on its side. There is a stigma, a rusty old image of writers being intellectual Gods who sit in oak chairs at respectable desks and thoughtfully craft brilliant and ornate prose, too complicated for everyone to understand. Writing should be an art for the everyman, and small independent scenes like the one in Chicago just might reach out and grab that everyman, a feat that publishing corporations with x-amount of dollars at their disposal have yet to achieve. But should the NYC literary scene, maybe the biggest and most respected in the country, be worried? There is a very small chance that Random House or Hyperion is going to relocate their offices to Chicago, and that’s just fine. Leaving the Midwestern scene untouched by corporate hands is the best thing for it. Costello adds though, that if Chicago does someday trump the gargantuan NYC literary scene that it won’t be because of sheer photocopying or imitation. “It’ll be because we’re producing superior work on our own terms.” Nick Ostdick is a fiction writer from the Chicago area. His short novel Sunbeams and Cigarettes was released in the fall of 2005. Ostdick's short fiction has appeared in Word Riot, 63 Channels, Farmhouse Magazine, and Independent. |
But it’s not just about the writing. Chicago authors are
also getting proactive, taking their work to the people instead of waiting
for the people to find the work. On any given night there are a handful of
different readings all over the city. While some are small zine gatherings
in the backs of coffeehouses, others draw bigger crowds, upward of twenty
or thirty people. The Dollar Store Reading Series, a monthly shindig run
by Jonathan Messinger, editor of Featherproof Books, a new Chicago press
that just released Todd Dills's first novel Sons of the Rapture, is
one of the more interesting events. Messinger will go to a dollar store
and purchase a few trinkets, then enlist local writers to craft a short
fiction piece based off the item designated to them. The performances are
held at The Hideout, a bar on the West Side that has become a popular
literary destination. Another reading that has become somewhat popular is
Reading Under the Influence, a weekly show in North Side bar that combines
reading and drinking, where the authors chosen for that week down a shot
before, during, and after reading their work. In addition the
participants also read other authors' work, downing shots during those
performances as well, their motto being “everyone deserves a literary
hangover.”