A Brief Introduction to the History, Mission,
& Current State of Affairs at
Fence Magazine & Fence Books Inc. 501c3
In Vice, Blake Butler has written: “[In] each issue of Fence…there’s always something to befuddle you, to challenge the idea of what could appear on paper, to make you wonder how or why a thing was made.” In 2018 Fence was awarded the inaugural Whiting Literary Magazine Award, cited as “vital,” “urgent,” and “central.”
In 1998, Rebecca Wolff founded Fence, a ground-breaking biannual literary magazine, creating an inclusive space for a range of literary work. Fence was developed to be an aide to cultural and aesthetic multiplicity. Fence invited hybridizations and unexpected encounters across factions, camps and coteries, allowing for the development of a truly inclusive literary community that it still cultivates today. Fence labors to hold space open, supporting writers in their impulses which conflict/collaborate/critique social/market forces. The ongoing Fence mission is to continue creating a place of possibility where hybridity and the always unexpected can find support and reach the public.
By the first day of 2022, Fence had published 38 issues of the magazine, established Fence Books, and regularly added new content to several free-to-access online offerings. That day, leadership of Fence passed from Editor and Publisher Rebecca Wolff to new Editorial Co-Directors: Emily Wallis Hughes, poet, author of Sugar Factory (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019), founder of Fence Digital’s Elecment, and Rutgers-New Brunswick Creative Writing Instructor; and Jason Zuzga, poet, author of Heat Wake (Saturnalia Books, 2016), UPenn English Ph.D., founder and producer of the Fence SoundsPodcast, and longtime Fence “Other” section Editor.
In 2022, Fence Books published Harmony Holidays Maafa, an epic of the catastrophe of the slave trade; and poet and labor union strategist Rodrigo Toscano’s The Charm and the Dread. Mopes: A Book in Three Acts, with poems anchored in both queer and Latinx struggle, will be published in December. Issue 39 included a special feature of writing about the Covid pandemic by nurses around the country. Issue 40 includes a new translation section and new projects overseen by Visiting Editor Edgar Garcia. Going forth, Fence is committed to bringing together visual artists and artists of the word (fiction, poetry, other) together onto our pages.
Fence’s new Editorial Co-Directors firmly believe in what Fence has accomplished and can become as a force moving forward. Both elected to work much more than full time for the modest annual salary of only $12,000—all the budget would allow. Emily and Jason resolved to pay Fence’s many genre editors a modest fee for the first time; Fence has been able to only budget for each $250 so far this year. Fence has no screeners —all submissions are read by senior editors. At this moment, Fence is struggling to maintain its modest position. Your help will 1) allow Fence to maintain this site of possibility and outreach to writers, artists, and readers through innovative distribution and publicity, and 2) materially and reasonably support the remarkable artists who work for and with Fence, who are published in our pages and online, and who anchor the multiform project that Fence has become across media.
The entire staff of Fence warmly thank you for your support.
THE 2022 ART + OBJECT + EXPERIENCE AUCTION
