The Brooklyn Rail- A new and wonderful addition to the realm of New York City news.
Where did the Brooklyn Rail start? Who are the founders?
The Brooklyn Rail was started in 1998 by Phong Bui. It was created as a weekly pamphlet, a legal sized paper folded in half with four columns of pure opinion. It was named by the theater editor Emily Devoti (who is also a playwright) as the Brooklyn Rail (having something to do with the trains in NYC/ mobility/ etc). The original editors are Christian Viveros- Fauné, Patrick Walsh, Theodor Hamm, and Joe Maggio. Phong Bui met them at the Brooklyn Ale house, and they all collaborated.
Motiff(s)? What do the editors of the Rail swear by? Live by?
The editors were very opinionated in the beginning and at one point asked Phong as the publisher to interfere with the editorial process, which helped The Rail become less of a singular critical voice, and more of a “Promised Land where artists and writers could meet, share ideas, and collaborate, as they had so intensely, in this city, in the past. The Rail therefore served as a conduit for the freedom of action.” (Phong Bui- A note from the Publisher)
Who reads the Brooklyn Rail? Is that what the founders/editors intended? Has readership changed? Will it change in the future?
The Brooklyn Rail was originally intended to service L train riders going between Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. However, in the year 2000 Phong Bui sold a painting for 2000 dollars, borrowed 500 more from a close friend and decided to turn the Rail into a full print newspaper. This changed the readership of the Rail in a very positive way. Not only did it now service Brooklyn residents not living off the L Train, but it also now serves as a newspaper for all New York City residents. Though as it is available for all New Yorkers as anyone can subscribe, it still is only found in select specifically artistic locations in lower Manhattan, but mostly Williamsburg and Bushwick. It can also be found as a source of news on College campuses around the city, including Eugene Lang (It is in the Lobby of the 12th St building). Readership will only further expand, granted the Rail readers keep reading and tell their friends to read too :)
Who do the editors work with? What is their editing process like? Who do they consult? Do they consult anyone? Who has the final say?
There are 4 main editors, but there are also editors and assistant editors per section). It is a collective editing process.
The Brooklyn Rail consists of:
publisher:
Phong Bui
art director:
Walter Chiu
layout editors:
Kayley Hoffman
asst. to the art director:
Matt Kay
webmasters:
Chris Johanesen, Julie Evanoff, Diana Valenzuela, Michael Cohn-Geltner
manager:
Rose D'Amora
distribution manager:
Cyrus Morgan
assistants to the publisher:
Allison Finkel, Maxwell Heller, Benjamin Tripp
production assistants:
Zach Brewer, Lucy Cottrell, Max Ferro, Lillian Gerson, Heidi Howard, Laura Hunt, Gili Levy, Ross Mabbett, Kirby Mages, Michelle Scourtos, Allie Simpson, Spencer Woodman
editor:
Theodore Hamm
art editor:
John Yau
managing art editors:
Ben La Rocco, Thomas Micchelli
contributing editors:
Daniel Baird, Williams Cole, Christian Parenti, Heather Rogers, Hirsh Sawhney
books editor:
John Reed
associate books editor:
Anna Wainwright
assistant books editor:
Meghan Roe
nonfiction books editor:
Vincent Rossmeier
music editor:
Dave Mandl
music intern:
Jamian Juliano-Villani
dance editor:
Mary Love Hodges
theater editors:
Emily DeVoti, Justin Boyd
film editors:
Jonas Mekas, David N. Meyer
fiction editor:
Donald Breckenridge
assistant fiction editor:
Stefanie Sobelle
fiction production asst:
Claudia Acevedo
intranslation co-editors:
Donald Breckenridge, Jen Zoble
poetry editor:
Anselm Berrigan
assistant poetry editor:
Roger Van Voorhees
editors at large:
Claudia La Rocco, Alan Lockwood, Ellen Pearlman, Johannah Rodgers, Joan Waltemath
consulting editors:
Dore Ashton, Joseph Masheck, Paul Mattick, Robert Morgan, Irving Sandler, Katy Siegel, Robert Storr, David Levi Strauss, David Shapiro
contributing writers:
Eleanor Bader, Sarahjane Blum, Michael Brennan, Stephanie Buhmann, Brian J. Carreira, Alessandro Cassin, Nadia Chaudhury, Lu Chen, Lynn Crawford, Geoffrey Cruickshank-Hagenbuckle, Nadia Davids, Tessa DeCarlo, Erinne Dobson, Jason Flores-Williams, Laurel Flierl, Warren Fry, Brian L. Fryer, Marjorie Garrison, Nora Griffin, Ryan Grim, Paul Grimstad, Maxwell Heller, Sabine Heinlein, Heidi Howard, Laura Hunt, Nicholas Jahr, James Kalm, David Kilpatrick, Kimberly Lamm, Greg Lindquist, Jed Lipinski, Jim Long, Tomassio Longhi, David Markus, Chris Martin, Shane McAdams, Josh Morgenthau, Cassandra Neyenesch, Valery Oisteanu, Craig Olson, Lucio Pozzi, Sherman Sam, Jeremy Sigler, Jen Schwarting, Todd Simmons, Douglas Singleton, Aaron Smith, David St.-Lascaux, Gabriel Thompson, David Varno, Hrag Vartanian, Matthew Vaz, Jeffrey Cyphers Wright
Who are the poets this month?
Mariana Ruiz Firmat-
Brooklyn based poet. She is the editor and publisher of Three Sad Tigers Press. http://threesadtigers.com/
Kyle Schlesinger-
His most recent book is What You Will (New Lights Press, 2010). He is also the editor of Charles Olson at Goddard College (Effing Press, 2010). He also lives in BK. http://www.kyleschlesinger.com/
Jordan Davis-
He writes for Constant Critic, The Nation and the TLS. A chapbook, POD: poems on demand, is forthcoming from Greying Ghost. http://www.jordandavis.com/
