The Short Happy Life of a Literary Magazine

In 2004, I was pleased to hear from Penny Talbert, editor of The Circle Magazine, that she wanted to publish my story "Flood, 1978." The print magazine, based in Pennsylvania, also had an attractive online presence. Ultimately my story appeared only in the online edition (Issue 30, Summer 2004), although it was done nicely, with an eye-catching illustration. My disappointment in not seeing the piece printed was mitigated a short time later when Eureka Literary Magazine, which has no online presence at all, also wanted the story, even as a reprint. ("Flood, 1978" appeared in ELM Volume 13, No. 2, Spring 2005, and was nominated by the Editor for a Pushcart Prize). For some time, I’ve had a link on this blog to the online version of the story but recently discovered that the link was broken. I searched the web and could find no trace at all of The Circle Magazine. I also found an email address for the magazine, but that didn’t work either (I just wanted to find out what happened). Finally, I Googled Penny Talbert and found an email address for her. Unfortunately, she confirms that the magazine is defunct--for lack of time (she went to grad school) and money. It's an all-too-common fate for little literary magazines, and the reason writers and readers should support them.