If you ask Brett Van Emst, the connotations of the term “literary magazine” are better than those of “bloated corpse,” but only slightly. Granta? “Boring.” The Paris Review? “Muddy.” How about Red Cedar Review, the one produced at his alma mater, Michigan State? “They just keep churning out the same issue with different names.” He won’t have Midnight Mind, which he publishes and edits, lumped in with them. “Midnight Mind,” he says, “is more of a cultural magazine.”
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Midnight Mind has more in common with McSweeney’s, the Baffler, or local upstart Bridge. Perfect-bound and digest sized, each issue is organized around a theme, and Van Emst is promoting number four–which, like the sixth issue of McSweeney’s, comes with a CD–with a rock show. But he says the similarities stop there. He’s a bigger fan of the McSweeney’s book imprint than of the magazine that made Dave Eggers famous. “Their book publishing is awesome,” he says. “I think it’s going to change the way publishing is done.”
That issue included road trip stories, short reminiscences by authors ranging from Sue Grafton to Denis Johnson about their first cars, a photo essay on the restoration of a ’51 Nash, and vintage ads for late, mostly unlamented models like the AMC Gremlin and the Plymouth Cricket. The current issue has a print run of 1,000 and is subtitled “The Chicago Culture Issue.” As Van Emst lived in New York when he rounded up the submissions, and didn’t have a job or his own apartment when he moved to Chicago last June, it was a rather ballsy undertaking.
On Wednesday, November 13, Midnight Mind will celebrate the publication of “The Chicago Culture Issue” with an 18-and-over release party at Schubas, 3159 N. Southport (773-525-2508), featuring Giant Step, Dick Prall, and Julie Korman. Doors open at 8, and admission is $10.
