Alex Livingston along with a few friends pooled their money together and decided to create something – a magazine. Through talking with people and being a part of small groups, Livingston concluded that there is a great local scene for original fiction, essays, and classic illustration but that there isn’t much of an outlet. “We wanted to start a literary/essay magazine in town. There’s a lot of talented folks and not a lot of places for them to go,” says Livingston.
Right now, Livingston says he and his friends are pounding the pavement to get the word out about the magazine and to find more venues to distribute the magazine. The magazine is composed, printed, and distributed by Buffalonians with the writing and drawing talents provided by people in the city and faithful ex-pats. This is their first issue and they hope to print quarterly – the next issue would come out in late fall.
The current issue features seven writers. There are two short fiction pieces and four columns. The short fiction pieces are going to be between four to eight pages long. Livingston says, “We really want the format to work for the writer. We want to try to accommodate as much as we can.”
The columns are on a variety of topics. One is about movies and digital technology; another features a writer dubbed “Prescription Girl” who writes comic book reviews. There is a general home-life article written by what Livingston called “a young fellow with a lot of talent” who has two children of his own and lives on Elmwood. The magazine even features a relationship columnist and a couple of classical illustrations.
You’ll find the first quarterly edition of Greenfern Magazine on the rack at Talking Leaves Book on Elmwood. If you like what you see and are interested, you can be a part of the magazine for their next edition. Livingston is actively seeking out people to submit work to the magazine as well as advertisers. Since the magazine is new and lacks the advertising most magazines have, it comes with a price tag of $6.25. However, for those interested in the local literary scene, the price should not be an obstacle.
If you’d like more information about the magazine or to submit your original work to Livingston, send an e-mail here.
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