reviews & recommendations
LITTLE MAGAZINES
CRISTINE C. R O M
1. Barat Review.
2. Brick.
3. Cape Rock.
4. Gargoyle.
5. Maenad.
6. Shout in the Street.
7. Small Press Review.
1. The Barat Review: A Journal o f Literature and the Arts.
1 9 7 9 - . Bi-A. $8.00. Barat College, Lake Forest, IL
60045. ISSN 0005-5859.
The contents of The Barat Review is similar to most
academic literary journals found in college and university
holdings. Like all magazines of its ilk, this review's main
emphasis is publishing the poetry, fiction, prose, and
criticism that is usually neglected by commercial presses.
The contributors are generally centered around the Mid-
west and East; submission guidelines suggest that unso-
licited manuscripts should be sent to the editor. Each 50-
to 75-page issue contains an average of 15 items covering
a wide range o f subject matter.
The Barat Review is geared to an academic audience.
It focuses on liberal arts education. Although the maga-
zine has a generally broad appeal, there are articles o f
specific interest - such as linguistics - as well as such
eclectic topics as a portfolio o f recipes, menus, and brief
letters from the turn o f the century.
The most valuable feature of this journal is the regular
interview feature, " A Dialogue with His/Her Audience."
Recent issues have included interviews with poets Tess
Gallagher and Elizabeth Libbey and fiction writer/critic
Nancy Willard. Other regular features are book reviews
of studies such as Isak Dinesen's Daguerreotypes and
Other Essays and The Transit o f Venus by Shirley Haz-
zard.
One aspect o f this journal that may detract from its
value for both reader and collector is that it contains a
good deal of reprinted poetry and fiction. With so many
writers seeking to be published in so few pages, it would
seem to be desirable not to duplicate previously pub-
lished small press material.
The Barat Review's quality is above average in terms
o f editing, content, and general appearance. However,
this magazine does nothing to distinguish it from numer-
ous other magazines. The point can be made that the
magazine does contain sofid criticism, poetry, and prose
from prominent and new writers.
Mellssa Harwood
2. Brick. 1 9 7 7 - . T. $5.50/3 issues; $2.00/copy. Brick
Books, Box 219, Ilderton, Ontario NOM 2AO. Ed.: Stan
Dragland, Jean McKay. ISSN 0382-8565.
If you have any need or desire to keep abreast o f
Canadian publishing, then you simply must have Brick.
All manner o f books are reviewed here, but the heaviest
emphasis is on Canadian books with a great deal o f
attention paid to the small press. Reviews are concise and
considered works o f the critic's craft.
Format is 8¼ by 103/4 inches and illustrations are used
throughout to enliven the pages, with poetry appearing
8. Telescope.
9. Thunder Mountain Review.
10. Unmuzzled Ox.
AT A GLANCE.
NOTES.
occasionally as well. The overall look is attractive. And
the p r i c e . . , dirt cheap.
The United States scene suffers for a truly excellent
review journal since the demise of Margins. Canada has
been much more fortunate. It has Brick. Write for a
sample and list o f back issues.
Chris Halla
3. The Cape Rock. 1964- . Bi-A. $1.50/2 issues; $1.00/
copy. Southeast Missouri University Press, Cape Girar-
deau, MO 63701. Ed.: R.A. Burns. ISSN 0146--2199.
Any little poetry magazine, even a university sup-
ported one, that publishes regularly for more than 15
years is something of a phenomenon. Even if a steady
flow of cash is all that has kept the magazine alive during
literary dry spells, it will have published a number of
important poets and gained for itself some sort of repu-
tation. Its survival alone makes it an important title.
Cape Rock (previously Cape Rock Journal and Cape
Rock Quarterly) has more going for it though than its
survival. It has consistently carried on as a showcase for
excellent, if lesser known, poets and photographers. Each
issue has its flaws, its "average" work. But each issue
also contains a couple of those gems that are so rare, even
in today's active world of alternative publishing.
Cape Rock's format is 51/2 by 8 inches and each issue
contains 64 pages, o f which 10 to 20 may be photog-
raphy. Cape Rock is saddle stitched and visually appeal-
ing though somewhat plain. Fifteen year indexes (1964--
79) are available free to librares and for $2.50 to individ-
uals. Library sample, publication history, and list of back
issues are available upon request.
Chris Halla
4. Gargoyle. 1 9 7 6 - . T. $6.00/individual; $7.00/institution.
Paycock Press, P.O. Box 57206, Washington, DC 20037.
Ed.: Richard M. Peabody. ISSN 0162-1149.
Gargoyle should be required reading for anyone inter-
ested in little magazines, small press publishing, and con-
temporary literature. Issues regularly include interviews,
fiction and poetry, full-page graphics, b o o k reviews, and
a gold mine o f information on little magazines and small
presses.
The interviews (with, among others, Michael Horovitz,
John Gardner, Allen Ginsberg, and Michael Brondoli) are
informed and well done. The poetry and prose of such
notables as George Myers, Lyn Lifshin, and Hugh Fox
appear alongside some lesser known but skilled writers;
most Gargoyle writers have published elsewhere. The
editors consider themselves "anglophiles" and have fea-
tured many British poets and writers; East Coast writers
tend to dominate America's representatives. Signed book
SERIALS REVIEW OCTOBER/DECEMBER 1981 25
 reviews vary in length from 100 to 1,500 words and are
knowledgeable, well written, and not to be missed. The
magazine's layout is clean, and the graphics quite nice.
The rest o f each issue is packed with important, often
difficult-to-locate, information. The editor's "Notes
from the Bell Tower" reports on goings-on of importance
to editors and writers. While Gargoyle is heavily weighted
toward the Washington-Baltimore area, past articles have
considered French small presses (no. 15/16), alternative
Canadian presses (no. 10), and small publishing in Aus-
tralia (no. 14); John Elseberg offers a frequent column on
the British scene.
Issue 15/16 contains a 25-page "Small Press Editors'
Round Table" in which 53 editors - including Albert
Drake (Happiness HoMing Tank), December Press' Curt
Johnson, Felix Stefanile o f Sparrow Press, and Carol
Berge (Center) - responded to eight groups of questions
ranging from "Are there too many little magazines?" and
"Has the concept behind small presses changed?" to li-
braries, funding, and the male/female ratio o f poetry and
fiction submissions. The answers are revealing, often per-
sonal, lively, informative, and sometimes surprising. The
issue also contains a complete index to the first 16 issues.
Gargoyle is a must at a good price.
Cristine C. Rom
5. Maenad.. A Women's Literary Journal. 1 9 8 1 - . Q. $3.50.
P.O. Box 738, Glouster, MA 01930. Ed.: Paula Estey and
Elizabeth Malloy.
Maenad offers much more than its subtitle suggests,
and the submission guidelines reflect the magazine's
concentrations: "feminist writings, traditional feminist
ideas and theories, as well as lesbian and third world
women's manuscripts." The literary departments cover
poetry, fiction, bibliographic and historical items, and
criticism. The visual arts are represented by photography,
collage, monotype, and other media; all are well-repro-
duced in black and white.
"Maenads" are the mythical frenzied attendants of
Dionysus, the Greek god o f vegetation, who has long
been associated with fertility rites o f sacrifice and re-
newal. The Maenads' frenzy was said to be spent and
wrought by inspiration of the Goddess; from thus the
magazine takes its name as it seems to express both anger
and inspiration in the complexion o f its pages.
Issues to date contain poetry by Adrienne Rich, a nov-
el excerpt b y Grace Shinell, Zita N. Dresners' "A Textual
Interpretation of Alternative Women's Music," Ann Z.
Leventhal's overview o f "Women in Fiction," and new
criticism on Shirley Jackson b y Mary Rice. The visual arts
are highlighted by Elaine Wing's monotypes.
Maenad's format may be pronounced "slick"; however,
the copy is solid and tidy. The type, headlines, and lay-
out are bold and graphic. The photo-reproductions are
excellent and plentiful, and each is given an individual
page. Though the approximately one hundred-page issues
are filled mostly with essays, Maenad features an average
o f 20 pages o f visual arts, 15 o f fiction, and several of
poetry or prose poems. Book reviews, letters to the edi-
tors, and advertising for assorted feminist publications are
regular features.
A glance at the contributor notes reveals that most of
the women are previously published in a variety o f femin-
ist publications or are exhibitors in numerous galleries
and national shows. The submission guidelines indicate
that unsolicited manuscripts and portfolios are accept-
able.
Overall, Maenad is a first rate publication and is of
merit for both its feminist impact and literary art and
26 SERIALS REVIEW OCTOBER/DECEMBER 1981
criticism - if one feels that the two are separate.
Melissa Harwood
6. A Shout in the Street: A Journal o f Literary and Visual
Art. 1976-- . Irreg. $3.00/copy. Queens College Press,
Queens College, English Dept., Flushing, NY 11367. Ed.:
Joe Cuomo. ISSN 1363--079X.
"That is God.
Horray! Ay! Whrrwhee!
What? Mr. Deasy asked.
A shout in the street."
- James Joyce, Ulysses
Taking its title from Joyce, A Shout in the Street sets
for itself that same detailed, heroic quest: "to publish
writing and art that accepts its connection to a physical
world" and " o f making art relevant again, by rooting it in
particular places and times, thereby re-establishing con-
text and a connection between art and e n v i r o n m e n t . . .
[and] including rather than excluding the culture in the
streets" (Vol. 1, no. 3).
Concern for environment is evident in Vol. 1, no. 2, in
an essay bearing witness to the occurrence of Minamata
disease in Canada, and in the issue's extensive photo-
documentation. It is echoed especially in the most recent
special photography issue (Vol. 2, no. 3). This issue is
large in format and contains four photo-essays: "Cuba"
by Rene Gelphi, "Peru" b y Ann Mason, "Rural America"
by Raymond Bialopiotrowicz, and editor Cuomo's
"Queens, New York." Also included here is an interview
with Roman Vishniac (a Jewish holocaust survivor and
documentor); while only one photograph accompanies
this interview, the earlier Vol. 1, no. 2 contains a series
o f ten photographs by Dr. Vishniac. A Shout in the
Street, like many other little magazines, likes the special
feature issue format. Vol. 2, nos. 1/2 is a fiction issue as
wilt be Vol. 3, no. 2; Vol. 3, no. 1 wilt focus only on
poetry.
Evolving slowly in the handful o f issues that have
appeared to date, A Shout in the Street could almost
best be described in a quotation from a James Purdy
interview (Vol. 2, nos. 1/2): "I think each b o o k is an ex-
ploration of the inside o f the writer . . . . In a way I think
that's the difference between just popular or commercial
writing and serious writing, because serious writing is like
science o r religion - it is a discovery." In the in-depth
interviews that appear in each 90 to 100-page issue, in-
terior monologue is explored as much as the writing pro-
cess itself, not only making for sincere and interesting
reading but also providing a unique service to the small
press world. Writers o f note - such as John Gardner,
James Dickey, Galway Kinnell, E.L. Doctorow, James
Purdy, and Meridel LeSueur - are interviewed here; well-
known names, like Allen Ginsberg, Diane Wakoski, A.R.
Ammons and Gary Snyder, appear alongside lesser known
poets, fiction writers, and essayists.
Libraries whose patrons include academicians and
creative writers and readers would find A Shout in the
Street a valuable subscription item. Its format and sub-
ject create a wide appeal.
Effie Mihopoulos
7. Small Press Review. 1967- . M. $12.00/individual;
$18.00/institution. Dustbooks, P.O. Box 100, Paradise,
CA 95969. Ed.: Len Fulton. ISSN 0037--7228. Indexed:
New Per.Ind.; Access.
Small Press Review is well-known by our audience, but
a recent special issue deserves our attention. The "Special
Library Issue" (Vol. 13, no. 6, June 1981) provides a
forum for the discussion o f mutual concerns o f librarians