Guest Author - M. E. Wood
a journal of prose, poetry and art
The paper version of the Literal Latte debuted back in June 1994 in the literary mecca of New York City. They printed their last print publication in July 2003 but have continued the online entity they started November 1996 ever since. The Literal Latte's online presence has seen various incarnations over the years but their latest launch in November 2008 is by far their best appearance. Their primary goal is "stimulating minds with quality essays, short stories, art, and poetry by aspiring writers from all around the world". They do this through a rich array of well known (Ray Bradbury, Gloria Steinem, John Updike) and unknown writers.
The new website (same address) uses a lovely WordPress format which is easy to read and fanciful to the eye. Although the table of content text could be a tad larger and the essays lack any illustrations, graphics or photos, the large size type of featured pieces, narrow columns and subdued tones encourage comfortable reading. Because the website uses a blog format you can easily add it to your RSS reader to keep on top of future content. Visitors are also given the opportunity to comment on the content they read, a gift often not given by literary magazines.
Literal Latte will be celebrating the start of 2009 with their first annual print anthology titled, The Anthology: Highlights from Fifteen Years of a Unique “Mind Stimulating” Literary Magazine. As the name suggests they will be celebrating the best of the last fifteen years of quality literature that graced their pages
For the person wanting to challenge their own creativity, Literal Latte has five annual writing contests in the categories of fiction, short short, poetry, essay and food verse. Each contest costs ten dollars to enter with a top kitty of $500 - $1000.
If you want to delve into the last decade (plus) of literary offerings you can do so by visiting their drop down menu of "past issues" which they are painstakingly rebuilding and adding to with the new format. Not everything is up yet but there is enough there to keep you busy.
I spent some time perusing through the essay, fiction, poetry and images sections and was pleasantly entertained as I'm sure you will be. If you haven't been to this historical piece of literary enjoyment then I recommend visiting. And if you haven't been in a while then it's time you revisited. The Literal Latte introduces four new additions a year.
Visit Literal Latte for a dose "stimulating brew".
M. E. Wood lives in Eastern Ontario, Canada. If you are going to find this eclectic reader and writer anywhere it is probably at her computer. For more information visit her official website.
