I sat down on a Sunday afternoon to flip through The Noveltown Review, a new literary magazine originating from the Central Valley, and just a few hours later, I had read the whole thing from cover to cover. Don’t get me wrong—I’m the type to read a magazine from cover to cover, and then I’ll set it aside and forget about it. That’s why I have to read it from cover to cover, because if I don’t, I will probably forget about it because I have so many other things I want to read. That all confessed, due to the relevance, quality, and variety of the Noveltown Review, it is an easy publication to read from cover to cover and a hard publication to forget.

Based in Bakersfield, CA, Noveltown (a small, independent press) exhibits strong talent as well as connections with other strongly talented contributors. They embrace fiction (including poetry, comics, and a chapter from an upcoming novel) and nonfiction (including blog info, book reviews, and guidance for writers—interesting guidance that spans beyond the usual “how to write” and “how to work with the publishing industry” types of guidance). The layout (in black and white) is
unobtrusive and complimentary. Well-selected and well-placed photos nicely counterbalance the text. The minimal and sparsely placed ads are of interest to anyone interested in writing and/or independent media. The resulting publication is unpretentious, racy, thought provoking, and inspiring—maybe not all at once in every article, but certainly as you progress through the seamless and personal-feeling look of the publication.

The Spring 2007 issue includes “Christmas Day,” a chapter from a forthcoming novel by Brad Listi. “Christmas Day” is a portrait of an uncomfortable family Christmas with an intimacy that cycles through brashness and tenderness—it comes across as very real, even as the grandmother “was old and tired and had reached the point where she had neither the energy nor the mental dexterity to lie anymore.”

Author Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s “The Working Writer: what kind of writer do you want to be when you grow up?” talks about how it isn’t enough to simply want to write; choices over the kinds of stories you want to tell and how your voice surfaces through these stories are important things to think about as a potential writer. N. Frank Daniels offers “2006: The year of the lit scandal,” which not only reminds us of all the bizarre, book-related debacles of last year, but also provides an interesting commentary on the state of publishing. There were a few short pieces by Fresno-based writer Cindy Wathen, including information on poetry at the Fresno Art Museum.
I could go on at length about the Spring 2007 issue of the Noveltown Review, but you should read the issue itself rather than just my thoughts on it! Limited copies were available in Fresno. You can purchase copies for just $5.95 (which includes shipping) at http://www.noveltown.net/books.html, if there are any left, at least.

In deciding to expand beyond books and blogs, Noveltown Publisher N.L Belardes explained, “We were ready to impact literary culture with a specific focus… but since we promote ourselves outside of the literary sphere, that means we could take our magazine anywhere too. We’ve been inside the Rabobank Arena during Bakersfield Condor hockey games, promoting our literary magazine.”

Just as an internet blog can be read by any type of audience, I think it’s that go-anywhere and approach-anyone attitude that makes the Noveltown Review so exciting. Beldardes continued, “with the right support, key networking, and an added dose of MySpace nowadays, you can take creativity and community-building to a new level.”

Now that I’ve finished the first issue, I can’t wait for the next one! The next issue is expected to be released in late August, and the theme is the “Brutalists in Bakersfield,” a local parallel to the raw, Brutalist movement in London. The fall issue will focus on non-fiction and memoir, and the winter issue’s focus is expected to be contemporary literary and young adult fiction. Future issues also will highlight Noveltown’s partnerships with college creative writing programs.

Get involved! Noveltown is accepting poetry, fiction, and article submissions for their summer issue through June 15th. Poetry submission inquiries can be sent to poets@noveltown.net, and other submission inquiries can be sent to melinda@noveltown.net. To stay involved as a reader, check back at www.noveltown.net, and give the blog a read. The Undercurrent is certainly looking forward to cross-involvement with the Noveltown Review as well, and I’m sure it won’t be long before you’ll see more of the Noveltown Review in Fresno—both in terms of more copies of the magazine available in Fresno and by way of more info on the magazine and its contributors within The Undercurrent.