Fiction Alumnus Vincent Francone Discusses the Origins of Jabber Magazine
Maybe five years ago I had the idea of starting a lit journal. Hardly an original idea, but I thought, Well, one more won’t kill anyone. I asked a lot of friends, mostly other writers, if they’d be interested in helping, as God knows I will do nothing if not held accountable by others. Many said yes but all flaked. (That’s writers for you.) Save for one enterprising loon named Anthony Gibson, a guy with tech skills and far more patience for the uploading and pretty-making of text on screen. Thank God for Anth.
Jabber is the name, the web address: www.jabberthemag.com. I thought about what might make us different and decided that my site ought to reflect my taste, and I tend to favor absurdist art, humor, experimentation. So there’s that, but I soon realized the site can be a place for doomed material, the stuff no one else will take. Of course, even we have standards. Still, I’m happier cultivating a community of weirdos and taking chances on their weird work than I would be aiming for literary acceptance. Which is not to say we at Jabber don’t want lauds, praises, and attention, but I don’t know if anything we publish will be the next “Cat Person.”
What have we published? An essay by the inimitable Robert Burkenhare on famous suicides, a story by Cecilia Quirarte of how—trained by years of stern parenting and common sense—a Mexican-American would survive a horror movie, a glimpse from Jason Witherow into the absurdity of daily military life, an examination of Chicago alleys by Patrick Reardon, poems ranging from unabashedly romantic to unclassifiably odd, and interviews with the likes of publisher Bathsheba Monk and writer extraordinaire Christine Sneed. A mixed bag so far. Here’s to whatever’s next.
Speaking of what’s next, Jabber has started its first recurring column: A.I. Tells a Story “written” by Art Intel, our resident non-human. In a refreshingly direct style, Art has penned short tales of Starbuck’s CEO trading the company for magic beans and interrogated the necessity of birds, among other ridiculous yarns. We are proud to have launched this bold new literary voice.
The future is wide open, but we at Jabber know it’s all sliding into entropy. With eyes on Web 3.0, breaking old forms while honoring traditions, and maybe even making a good ol’ fashioned paper book, we model ourselves on Camus’s vision of Sisyphus and gleefully push our boulder, well aware of the futility of existence. But no one said you can’t have fun before the inevitable collapse. Join us as readers and/or submit something to jabberthemag@gmail.com.
Vincent Francone is the author of Like a Dog and The Soft Lunacy, editor of Open Heart Chicago: An Anthology of Chicago Writing, and Editor-in-Chief of Jabber www.jabberthemag.com.