Alternative literature

Last updated

Alternative literature (or alt-lit) is a literary movement strongly influenced by internet culture and online publishing. It includes various forms of prose, poetry, and new media. Alt-lit is characterized by self-publication and a presence on social media networks. [1] Alternative literature brings together people with a common interest in the online publishing world. [2]

Contents

Origins

The term was first used to refer to this community of writers in the summer of 2011, when Tumblr and Twitter accounts named "Alt Lit Gossip" emerged, created by Cory Stephens (@outmouth). [3] The accounts covered writers from presses and publications such as Muumuu House, Pop Serial, and HTMLgiant in a style akin to celebrity gossip sources like TMZ. [3] After a few months the original accounts were deleted; they were revived by Frank Hinton in the fall of 2011, and began to gain popularity. [2]

Shared traits across Alt Lit

Alt Lit is often characterized by self-publication, self-promotion, and the maintenance of a presence on social media networks. [1] Josh Soilker has said that Alt Lit is "in blog posts, videos, gchats and Facebook status updates. In PDFs and folded papers..." [4] and that the movement's principal figures were Tao Lin, Noah Cicero and Brandon Scott Gorrell. [5]

Alt Lit writers share Gmail chat logs, image macros, screenshots, and tweets, which are then self-published as poetry books and/or novels. [6]

Writing for the New Yorker, Kenneth Goldsmith characterized Alt Lit writing as "marked by direct speech, expressions of aching desire, and wide-eyed sincerity". [6] He also noted that Alt Lit is "usually written in the Internet vernacular of lowercase letters, inverted punctuation, abundant typos, and bad grammar". [6]

Authors and works

Literary magazines and blogs

Online and print Alt Lit magazines include SWAY Press, Illuminati Girl Gang, New Wave Vomit, Pop Serial, Shabby Doll House, Have U Seen My Whale, The Bushwick Review, The Mall, Keep This Bag Away From Children, Everyday Genius, Metazen, Housefire, UP Literature, Parlor, Sadcore Dadwave, Red Lightbulbs, In Parentheses and Unsure if i will allow my beard to grow for much longer. [3] [7]

Alt Lit news and creative blogs include Alt Lit Gossip, I Am Alt Lit, Internet Poetry, HTMLGiant, Beach Sloth, Allthemacchs, Heartcloud, FRXTL, Cutty Spot, and Alt Lit Press. [3] [7]

Presses and books

Presses publishing Alt Lit writing include Muumuu House, Civil Coping Mechanisms, Sorry House, Habitat, Boost House, Lazy Fascist, Macro, Nap, Scrambler Books, Publishing Genius, and Plain Wrap Press. [7]

Two anthologies of Alt Lit writing are The Yolo Pages (2014, Boost House) [8] and 40 Likely To Die Before 40: An Introduction to Alt Lit (2014, Civil Coping Mechanisms). [7]

More than 150 books, e-books, and zines of Alt Lit writing, mostly self-published, have been catalogued on the Tumblr blog Alt Lit Library. [3] [7] [9] Mellow Pages Library in Bushwick, Brooklyn, offers a wide selection of Alt Lit titles and hosts Alt Lit readings and book releases. [7]

Authors

Alt Lit authors include Jacob M. Appel, Gabby Bess, Megan Boyle, Melissa Broder, Ben Brooks, Blake Butler, Marie Calloway, Richard Chiem, Brendan Connell, Cecilia Corrigan, Heiko Julien, Noah Cicero, Claire Donato, Horse eBooks, Elizabeth Ellen, Aiden Elliot, Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, Mira Gonzalez, Jamie Iredell, Tao Lin, Scott McClanahan, Spencer Madsen, Guillaume Morissette, Steve Roggenbuck, Dave Wright, Beach Sloth, Tim Sanders, [3] [6] [7] [10] [11] [12] [13] Lauren Oyler, and Patricia Lockwood.

Many writers and critics in and around the Alt Lit community have proposed different labels to be used in conjunction with or in place of "Alt Lit."

New Sincerity

Some critics have linked Alt Lit writers with New Sincerity, [14] to the point of using the terms interchangeably. Notable Alt Lit writers such as Steve Roggenbuck, Spencer Madsen and Tao Lin have also been grouped under the label "New Sincerity", [15] [16] but many Alt Lit writers reject the influence of David Foster Wallace and prominent mainstream exponents of a "New Sincerity" such as Jonathan Franzen. [2]

The New Sincerity connection entails the use of an array of literary techniques intended to create the impression of "sincere" communication, ranging from autobiography, self-revision and a conversational tone to minimal punctuation and sans-serif fonts. [16]

Autofiction

Many Alt Lit writers, including Megan Boyle and Tao Lin, write autobiographical fiction or autofiction. [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

3:AM Magazine is a literary magazine, which was set up as 3ammagazine.com in April 2000 and is edited from Paris. Its editor-in-chief since inception has been Andrew Gallix, a lecturer at the Sorbonne.

Noah Cicero is an American novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the author of nine books of fiction, two books of poetry, and two ebooks.

New sincerity is a trend in music, aesthetics, literary fiction, film criticism, poetry, literary criticism and philosophy that generally describes creative works that expand upon and break away from concepts of postmodernist irony and cynicism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tao Lin</span> American novelist

Tao Lin is an American novelist, poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. He has published four novels, a novella, two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a memoir, as well as an extensive assortment of online content. His third novel, Taipei, was published by Vintage on June 4, 2013. His nonfiction book Trip: Psychedelics, Alienation, and Change was published by Vintage on May 1, 2018. His fourth novel, Leave Society, was published by Vintage on August 3, 2021.

The Offbeat generation was a loose association of like-minded writers working across different styles but united by their opposition to a mainstream publishing industry driven by marketing departments. The term—coined by Andrew Gallix in 3:AM Magazine in February 2006—was a pun on the Beat Generation but more likely to be associated with the Chemical generation immediately before it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litquake</span>

Litquake is San Francisco's annual literary festival. Originally named Litstock, the festival events took place in a single day in Golden Gate Park in the spring of 1999. It now has a two-week run in mid-October, as well as year-round programs and workshops.

NOON is a literary annual founded in 2000 by American author Diane Williams. NOON Inc. launched its 24th edition in March 2023. NOON is archived at The Lilly Library along with the personal literary archive of founding editor Diane Williams. The Lilly is the principal rare books, manuscripts, and special collections repository of Indiana University.

Post-irony is a term used to denote a state in which earnest and ironic intents become muddled. It may less commonly refer to its converse: a return from irony to earnestness, similar to New Sincerity.

<i>Richard Yates</i> (novel) 2010 autobiographical novel by Tao Lin

Richard Yates is an autobiographical novel by Tao Lin, published in 2010.

Adam Humphreys is a Canadian filmmaker, entrepreneur, and hall of fame tree planter. He is the director of two non-fiction films: Franz Otto Ultimate Highballer and Shitty Youth. He is the founder of Lucky Dragon Mobile Visa Consultants.

Mira Gonzalez is an American poet. Her first collection, i will never be beautiful enough to make us beautiful together, was published by Spencer Madsen of Sorry House press on January 31, 2013. According to Liza Darwin in Nylon magazine, Gonzalez is part of a "whole new crop of cool girl poets" whose work is "clever, totally unfiltered, and peppered with twisted insight and refreshing humor." She has been published in magazines including Vice, Hobart, and Muumuu House. In 2015, Gonzalez and Tao Lin released Selected Tweets, a collaborative double-book featuring selections from three of her Twitter accounts, as well as visual art and "extras". In 2015, the singer Lily Allen posted an image of her hand above Gonzalez's i will not be beautiful enough... book of poems, which led to speculation that the singer's marriage was on shaky ground. Gonzalez has described her writing process as follows:

I will spend hours on one sentence sometimes, and if I feel that sentence isn’t expressing exactly what I want it to express, I will delete the sentence entirely. I think it takes a lot of precision and tedious work.

Steve Roggenbuck is an American poet, blogger, and YouTuber. His works have gained notoriety and mild recognition for their reusing of motifs like typos, lack of punctuation, and exaggerated joy. In 2018, Roggenbuck was accused of sending sexually explicit messages to underage girls, among other sexually abusive behaviors.

Megan Boyle is an American writer and filmmaker.

Spencer Madsen is a contemporary American poet and small press publisher. He is a Brooklyn-based contemporary writer as well as the founding editor of Sorry House, an independent publishing press in New York City. Madsen is part of a genre of independent poetry that is unique in its association with the New Sincerity movement as well as its use of social media platforms as its main source of publicity. He is described by The Fader magazine as "a writer who will, with equal enthusiasm, tweet a selfie of his butt and write the sincerest, saddest line of poetry you've ever read."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsea Martin</span> American author and illustrator (born 1986)

Chelsea Martin is an American author and illustrator.

Felix Bernstein is a performance artist, video artist, writer, and cultural critic. Bernstein was born in New York City to poet Charles Bernstein and artist Susan Bee, and attended Bard College, graduating in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Owain Roberts</span> Welsh author (born 1982)

Richard Owain Roberts is a Welsh author. He is the author of the novel Hello Friend We Missed You, which has been hailed as "a turning point for Welsh fiction", and the short story collection All The Places We Lived.

Chris Molnar is a writer, editor, filmmaker and publisher. He is the co-founder of The Writer's Block bookstore in Las Vegas, and editorial director of Archway Editions, the literary imprint of powerHouse Books distributed by Simon & Schuster.

<i>Leave Society</i> 2021 novel by Tao Lin

Leave Society is a 2021 novel by Tao Lin. It is his fourth novel, and tenth book overall.

Jordan Castro is an American writer and editor. He is the author of two books of poetry and a novel, as well as assortment of stories and essays, published in Harper's, Tin House, Muumuu House, and other magazines. He was the editor of Tyrant Books online magazine from late 2016 until it closed in 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 "Contemporary Literature's Nouvelle Vague: Interview with Frank Hinton". The Oxford Student. 2012-12-26. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  2. 1 2 3 "Lexicon Devils: What Exactly is Alt Lit? A Conversation With Frank Hinton, Noah Cicero and Stephen Tully Dierks – Vol. 1 Brooklyn". vol1brooklyn.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Roggenbuck, Steve, E.E. Scott, and Rachel Younghans, eds. "Introduction." The Yolo Pages. Boost House, 2014. Print.
  4. ↑ "Lexicon Devils: What Exactly is Alt Lit? A Conversation with Frank Hinton, Noah Cicero and Stephen Tully Dierks – Vol. 1 Brooklyn".
  5. ↑ "Lexicon Devils: What Exactly is Alt Lit? A Conversation With Frank Hinton, Noah Cicero and Stephen Tully Dierks – Vol. 1 Brooklyn". vol1brooklyn.com. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "If Walt Whitman Vlogged". The New Yorker. 2014-05-07. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dazed (2013-11-11). "The dA-Zed guide to Alt Lit". Dazed. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  8. ↑ Bridle, James (2014-06-28). "Meet the 'alt lit' writers giving literature a boost | Ebooks". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  9. ↑ "alt lit library". links to buy all your fav alt lit chapbooks and zines. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  10. ↑ "Looking for a great self-published book? Here's where to find it". the Guardian. 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  11. ↑ Dazed (2013-06-10). "Read the best Alt-Lit on the net". Dazed. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  12. ↑ Pierce, Cameron, and Michael Seidlinger, eds. 40 Likely to Die Before 40. Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2014. Print.
  13. ↑ Allie Jones, Hip Alt-Lit Editor Quits Public Writing Career After Rape Accusations, Gawker, 30 Sept 2014
  14. ↑ "Daniel Bailey on 'The New Sincerity/Alt-Lit' | HTMLGIANT". htmlgiant.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  15. ↑ "What we talk about when we talk about the New Sincerity, part 1 | HTMLGIANT". htmlgiant.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  16. 1 2 "Theory of Prose & better writing (ctd): The New Sincerity, Tao Lin, & "differential perceptions" | HTMLGIANT". htmlgiant.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  17. ↑ "Sheila Heti, Ben Lerner, Tao Lin: How 'Auto' is 'Autofiction'?". 11 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "Self Fare".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.