Matt DiGangi likes dark corners.  When I met the editor of acclaimed literary magazine Thieves Jargon at Algiers Cafe yesterday, he immediately established his taste for shadowy lighting, strong coffee, and even stronger opinions about “underground literature.”  And who can blame him– after heading a magazine that has defined as well as reflected the landscape of alternative literary publishing, I think he’s entitled to an opinion or two.

How has Thieves Jargon evolved from its initial inception as one of the early online literary magazines?

Well, there were definitely other online journals when it first started– some that inspired me.  And I wanted to do what they did, but better.  I tried to set Thieves Jargon apart by publishing content frequently [weekly as opposed to quarterly].  Also, we were the first lit mag with a message board, and we were one of the first to combine frequent new artwork with writing online.  When I started Thieves Jargon, I was really just working with what knowledge I had about online publishing– I never even considered doing a print journal.

Over the years, we published with even more frequency, and my taste became more refined, I think.  I’m less easily impressed than I used to be.  And now more people are helping me out.  When we hit five years this June, I’ll be handing it off to a new editor– although I imagine I’ll stick around in an advisory role.

What about Thieves Jargon Press?  What do you anticipate doing with that?

I’m not sure; I’m taking Electronic Publishing [at Emerson] next semester, and I’d actually really like to put out an e-book for the Kindle… maybe work on that long-awaited book of poetry.  Year of the Thief was the “best of our fiction” volume that I edited and published, and I’ve been meaning to do a collection of our poetry for some time.

But I also plan to take on some other large-scale editing projects– mainly from our contributors over the years.  There are maybe five or six books that I have my eye on, to do freelance editing for–anything from editorial consulting (to help authors find agents) to maybe even representing the books myself.  It would definitely be exciting to use all of the experience I’ve gained, and be able to say, “This is the most popular underground author– let’s take him above ground.”

What brought you to Emerson’s program in Publishing and Writing, if you already had all of this experience?

After putting out two books, I realized that publishing is tough–if not impossible– to do on your own.  I had done this because I had the passion for it; now I wanted to do it professionally.  And I decided to come to Emerson to pick up the applicable skills.  How that will all work in the long run– since I’m still at my full-time job in educational publishing– is still To Be Determined.

Do you have any advice for young writers, hoping to get their work published?

After you submit a story to literary magazines, while you’re waiting to hear from them, write another one.  If you put all your faith in one story, and just keep shopping it around, then you’re doomed.  The really serious authors, the best ones that I’ve seen, keep coming back– three or four times– and their writing improves.

I really loved Brian Oliu’s new piece on Thieves Jargon, “The Beautiful Game”…

Yeah, isn’t that one great?  He just came out of nowhere and sent that to us.

Yeah, I actually told him about you guys, after we met at AWP and connecting over Redivider and Black Warrior Review.

Ohhhhh… that literary network.  Nice.  Yeah, one of the first nonfiction pieces we’ve gotten–and published– in a long time.

But I was wondering, who are some of your favorite, all-time contributors?

Here are just a few of my favorites:

1) Spencer Dew.  He’s very prolific, very cool– doing a religious studies PhD, and writes about weird sex and cities.  Yes, I said “and.”

2) Joel Van Noord.  (I want to pimp his name, since I’m thinking of editing his book) He writes kind of “surf adventure” stuff– very into the San Diego surf culture, but also influenced by old-school folks, like Steinbeck.

3) Andy Riverbed.  He’s 22, a youngin’, with an awesome future. He’s got one of the best imaginations I’ve ever seen.  He also does translations, and translates these great new stories into Spanish and posts them on his blog.  He hooked us up with a great story for Thieves Jargon– one of his translations from Spanish.  And he’s great to work with– I’m trying to cultivate him, as a writer.  I think this is where my experience really comes in handy– being the 30-year-old guy with the 20-something writers under my wing.  I like being a mentor.

What’s the strangest cover letter or submission you ever received?

I loved this guy’s cover letter but I didn’t like his story, so I ran his cover letter instead.  And now he’s my fiction editor.

Meet and chat up Matt (I dare you ask him about his views on literary theory) at the Vernacular Spring Gala tomorrow night at Grub Street!

Tags:   getting published · kim · literary magazines · Matt DiGangi · Spotlight On... · Spring Gala · Thieves JargonNo Comments