Editor Darin Bradley announces the impending death of Farrago’s Wainscot, the “quarterly journal of the literary weird in fiction, poetry, and experimental wordforms.” Following the publication of of FW‘s 12th issue on 1 October 2009, it will “cease operations.” As with the earlier announcement about Jim Baen’s Universe, it’s again money that’s the main cause. Bradley writes, “There are many reasons behind this closure. Among them, of course, is cost. While our operating budget is comparatively small, the realities of offering free online literature while yet compensating our contributors have made the project unsustainable. We also feel that Farrago’s Wainscot has accomplished what we set out to accomplish—namely, providing an internet audience with fiction, poetry, and experimental wordforms that challenge general conceptions about form and offer readers new perspectives through which to view other literatures. We never envisioned a particular ‘run’ for Farrago’s Wainscot—instead, we approached each year’s exhibition as a fresh project. We are pleased to have successfully offered three such years, which will remain available online through (at least) 2010.”
The staff, however, is not entirely disbanding. Instead, Bradley says, “we will direct our energies to new Farrago projects. Most primary among them is Farrago’s F.M.I., where we will offer our internet audience an entirely new perspective on ‘weird literature’. F.M.I. will ask new questions about fiction vs. nonfiction, real vs. unreal, and author vs. audience. In the tradition of Farrago’s Wainscot, Farrago’s F.M.I. will continue to create opportunities for both established and aspiring writers.” At the moment, Farrago’s F.M.I. “presents blog-like items of weird-interest.”
The recently published issue #11 is available, as are the previous issues of Farrago’s Wainscot. Issue #11 contains:
Fiction:
“In a Windless Calm” by Paul Abbamondi
“The Non-Epistemological Universe of Emmaeus Holt” by Forrest Aguirre
“Lia’s Paperhouse” by Autumn Canter
“Lotophagi” by Edward Morris
“Wooden Apologies” by Mari Ness
“Hollow Woman” by Angie Smibert
Poetry:
“The Lemmings” by Lee Stern
“Mimes at Dinner” by Amy Riddle
“My Mannequin” by William Doreski
“Convention” by Mark DeCarteret
Experimental Wordforms:
“Nine Views of Mount Fuji” by Mike Keith
As a contributor to the final Farrago’s Wainscot: Issue 12, I second the heartfelt sadness of seeing such a fantastic and experimental publication close its doors. Thank you to Darin Bradley, Berrien Henderson and staff et al. for their hard work and for including my short story, “Sublimity in Turquoise Blue” in their final issue. An honor to be included among so many talented authors–Becca De La Rosa, Paul Jessup, Eden Robins, S. Boyd Taylor and Jonathan Wood. I tip my hat to you.