Sweet New Name, Same Sweet Magazine: The Birth of Sweet Lit
For eleven years Sweet: A Literary Confection has published poems, essays, and comics that celebrate the word and image. In those eleven years we have striven to be a journal that facilitates a space for those of diverse backgrounds. This is why Sweet was created in a small apartment in Columbus, OH, all those years ago. The founding editors never wanted to claim that the work we published was the “best” literature in the country. But rather we wanted the work to communicate and express uncertainty in a world that seems so certain of itself. This is the beauty of literature, to provide another way of seeing things, to create conversation, to move.
Now in our 11th year, Sweet: A Literary Confection has become a federal nonprofit organization, which has allowed us to grow. In the last few years we have started Sweet Publications, which produces handmade chapbooks of poems and essays; Sweet Aperitifs, which is dedicated to giving new life to out-of-print books; and Sweet Reach, our hub for outreach programming.
At the nexus of all of this remains our magazine, newly renamed Sweet Lit.
This issue of Sweet Lit is not only a celebration of the writers of whose work appears in this issue but also the writers who we’ve published in the past and the writers yet to come. The future of Sweet is in good hands. Sweet Lit is now under the direction of new head editor, Katherine Riegel; new nonfiction editor, Alysia Sawchyn; and new book review editor, Andrew Miles. The great Leslie Salas remains our graphic nonfiction editor, and this issue has wonderful new graphic work by Nathan Holic and Diane Joy Schmidt.
In the hopes that we will continue to build on our mission of community and collaboration, we have recently formed an advisory board, a group of writers and editors who will guide us through this exciting time: Nin Andrews, January G. O’Neil, Dinty W. Moore, Sandra Gail Lambert, and Lee Martin. We are honored to have these writers as part of the Sweet family. The future of Sweet seems so much…well…sweeter with their guidance.
I want to end this letter by saying how much joy Sweet has brought me over the years. Sweet was a dream. It is a Sweet dream. Sweet continues to dream. Sweet is eager to do more to support writers and foster arts education. To sustain this, we need help. So as you read this wonderful new issue, if you are inclined to do so, donate to Sweet. Every little bit counts.
Ira Sukrungruang
President of Sweet: A Literary Confection
For eleven years Sweet: A Literary Confection has published poems, essays, and comics that celebrate the word and image. In those eleven years we have striven to be a journal that facilitates a space for those of diverse backgrounds. This is why Sweet was created in a small apartment in Columbus, OH, all those years ago. The founding editors never wanted to claim that the work we published was the “best” literature in the country. But rather we wanted the work to communicate and express uncertainty in a world that seems so certain of itself. This is the beauty of literature, to provide another way of seeing things, to create conversation, to move.
Now in our 11th year, Sweet: A Literary Confection has become a federal nonprofit organization, which has allowed us to grow. In the last few years we have started Sweet Publications, which produces handmade chapbooks of poems and essays; Sweet Aperitifs, which is dedicated to giving new life to out-of-print books; and Sweet Reach, our hub for outreach programming.
At the nexus of all of this remains our magazine, newly renamed Sweet Lit.
This issue of Sweet Lit is not only a celebration of the writers of whose work appears in this issue but also the writers who we’ve published in the past and the writers yet to come. The future of Sweet is in good hands. Sweet Lit is now under the direction of new head editor, Katherine Riegel; new nonfiction editor, Alysia Sawchyn; and new book review editor, Andrew Miles. The great Leslie Salas remains our graphic nonfiction editor, and this issue has wonderful new graphic work by Nathan Holic and Diane Joy Schmidt.
In the hopes that we will continue to build on our mission of community and collaboration, we have recently formed an advisory board, a group of writers and editors who will guide us through this exciting time: Nin Andrews, January G. O’Neil, Dinty W. Moore, Sandra Gail Lambert, and Lee Martin. We are honored to have these writers as part of the Sweet family. The future of Sweet seems so much…well…sweeter with their guidance.
I want to end this letter by saying how much joy Sweet has brought me over the years. Sweet was a dream. It is a Sweet dream. Sweet continues to dream. Sweet is eager to do more to support writers and foster arts education. To sustain this, we need help. So as you read this wonderful new issue, if you are inclined to do so, donate to Sweet. Every little bit counts.
Ira Sukrungruang
President of Sweet: A Literary Confection