I went to the fundraiser for One-Story Magazine Friday night, and feel compelled to blog about it. I went to graduate school with the publisher, Maribeth Batcha. She started the magazine, along with Hannah Tinti, eight years ago. Most of these magazines fail. One-Story has flourished for one reason; it publishes quality fiction, often from the slush pile. The fundraiser was a “Debuntante Ball” in which authors first published or published early in their careers were escourted by established writers like Victor LaValle, Michael Cunningham, Jonathan Letham down an aisle, while the rest of us cheered, and pc guy John Hodgman emceed. Writers so rarely get to celebrate accomplishments– there’s just not enough money for parties. This was a lot of fun.
Anyway, It’s great, and heartening, to see something so worthwhile manage to thrive.