In this the second issue of the Mississippi
Review Web Edition we're pleased to offer new short fiction by John Barth,
Tom Drury, and others, as well as a splendid essay on the poetry of laureate
Rita Dove. These three pieces will appear almost simultaneously in the
Spring 1995 Blip Magazine Archiveprint edition. Some of the remaining fiction
and poetry has appeared in previous issues of the magazine, and some is
seeing first publication here.
One of the exciting things about doing this magazine on the World Wide Web is the ease with which we can put
stuff in (and take it out), so don't be surprised if, in the middle of the month, the May (or June, or August,
or whatever) issue changes considerably. With print one is forced to publish it and let it go--no tinkering
after a certain point, but that limitation doesn't exist here, and so tinker we probably will. The final issue
for a given month will be what remains at the end of that month. I'm guessing that this will be more additive than
subtractive, but who can say. Maybe somebody will give us so much grief that we'll vacuum him or her right off
our little corner of the net.
We're working on video and sound, too. The problems inherent in
these media have largely to do with the file sizes needed for a
substantial clip. Who wants to wait through a fifteen minute
download just to hear a four minute poem? Not it. Anyway, if
something strikes us as worthy, well, we'll try to put it up here. Ditto graphics--we've asked the writer
Kevin Walters to come up with some kind of multi-panel literary cartoon we might run as a continuing feature, and
if he does, we'll include it.
One other thing--if you like what you find here do us a favor and spread the word. What with everybody and his/her
uncle making up a home page, there's hardly anybody left to go around and look at--consume--other home pages.
One of the reasons the net is content poor, maybe. Like the students in workshop who say they don't have time to
read because they're too busy writing--it's an easy irony to notice and remark upon, but no less troubling for
the ease of access.
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