Literature survives in Secaucus
Sensations magazine on the edge of thriving despite hard
times
Surviving as a literary institution anywhere in United State
is difficult in these days of tight-wallet economics. For small groups with a
high intellectual concept, free of corporate, university or governmental
patronage, survival is next to impossible. Yet a Secaucus-based literary group
has found a way to keep its head above water without lowering its standard of
literary excellence.
The group, centered around Sensations magazine, will
celebrate its sixth anniversary this December with a fiction contest and a
special issue celebrating the winners. But the magazine is only one part of a
growing community of writers, poets and researchers who have banded together to
stimulate and educate themselves and their reading public.
``We wanted to start a literary magazine that could survive
and thrive without grants or government assistance,'' said David Messineo, one
of the chief motivators of this movement. ``We also wanted to provide writers
with a means to improve their writing through a comprehensive editorial
process.''
But the record of the small publication is remarkable. At
first, it was designed to be an international literary publication and the
staff sought to distribute as far and wide as possible. They succeeded beyond
their wildest expectations with issues finding their way onto all seven
continents <197> including Antarctica
``We found a way to get in to the scientists there,''
Messineo said, seeming both amused and pleased with the accomplishment. But
over the years, international mailing costs made such a grand concept less and
less feasible and the vision of the magazine returned to the more manageable
North American Continent.
``We still receive submissions from other places,'' Messineo
said. ``But most of what we get comes from the United States and Canada.''
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While the magazine and literary group were established in
1987, the roots of it go back to 1980 when Messineo went to Fordham University
at the Rosehill campus in the Bronx. While there, he started his own magazine
to compete against the college's 100-year-old existing publication. By the his
third year, his magazine had the largest staff of any of the university groups.
It was a protest in a way against the lack of care that even established
magazines have towards the work of writers and artists. Typos and unannounced
changes in a writer's work were common, so was the erratic schedule.
After leaving school in 1984, Messineo did the literary and
library circuit for a few years, then decided it was time for another magazine.
``I'd seen a lot of what was out there,'' he said, ``and I
thought we had something different to offer.''
The concept was of a new kind of literary group and
magazine, one that could benefit the writers and still thrive.
``We had no plans for research papers at first; that came
later,'' he said. When it did, it came in with a bang. In what Messineo calls
the ``Rediscovering America in Poetry series,'' the magazine found itself with
the first comprehensive collection of American poetry from 1565 to 1630.
``Many people think Anne Bradstreet is the mother of
American poetry,'' he said. ``We've basically proved that incorrect.''
This of course depends on what people define as American
poetry. A large part of what the group discovered is not in English, but more
multi-cultural including French, *<<<<Castellan>>>
Spanish, Mexican as well as English.
``If someone came to America and was inspired by experience
in America to write, that's an American poet,'' Messineo said.
The research articles, then, require translation and a
significant amount of time. Alexandria Sununu O'Shea, sister of the former
White House chief of staff, translates the Castellan. Becky Daniels, from the
New Jersey Institute of Technology, helps in translation as well.
In the most recent issue, the group celebrated the
quincentennial of Columbus' discovery of America in a study of a book of
prophesies written by Christopher Columbus *<<<as>>> his
second son, Diego. In this project, Messineo said he had extensive help from
Kay Brigham from the Christopher Columbus Quincentenial Jubilee Commission.
The research articles have allowed the magazine to reach a
readership other literary publications often do not. History people like it,
teachers sometimes use it for class room material, and some very impressive
libraries have become subscribers, including the New York Public Library,
Cornell University Library, Princeton University Library, St Augustine Research
library and others.
The primary focus of the magazine is American literature.
The research deals with the past, but most of the magazine involves
contemporary fiction and poetry.
But the relationship between editor and writer goes deeper.
The group provides a fairly comprehensive evaluation service. Writers send in
three copies of their work which are sent to three different editors.
Evaluation forms and comments are returned to Messineo, who compiles the
results and sends the recommendations along to the writer. Some of the
manuscripts are accepted for publication with recommended changes from the
editors, but all submissions are given editorial comment for improvement.
``If we like the story, we'll call the writer collect and
discuss the changes with them,'' Messineo said. ``All that's included in the
price of one magazine.''
The catch, as some writers outside the group refer to it, is
the fact that in order to submit material to the magazine, a writer must buy a
copy. It's one of the ways the magazine funds itself. Those requesting a copy
are sent writers' guidelines.
``If we like the work
we'll publish it even if the writer doesn't buy another copy,'' Messineo said.
``But we don't send complimentary copies to those we publish. They have to buy
it.''
The system, however, does something that most small literary
magazines cannot do: it survives. They managed to cover the cost of production,
postage, research, telephone calls, marketing and planning for events. All the
editors volunteer their services.
``No one makes any money off publication,'' Messineo said,
noting that direct sales works best for them.
The magazine, however, is designed with the writer in mind,
to treat writers with respect and put them in front of a readership not
normally exposed to their work.
``Our goal for 1994 is to pay poets for their poems and
writers for their fiction,'' Messineo said. ``It was part of our goals when we
started the magazine in 1987. But before we could do that we basically had to
break even financially.''
While there is a core membership that attends the group's
events, anyone is welcome. They are fun ways of raising funds to help support
the magazine, but also a way of letting people meet other people through a
literary *<<<means>>>.
``These are not bar-oriented events,'' Messineo said. ``We
will have wine-tasting with poetry on occasions. But we want to create an
environment supportive of writers and which will assist them in gaining
confidence and increase their public speaking skills.''
These events could be anything from a simple poetry reading
to reading poetry while lifting off in a hot air balloon. Locations vary across
the state from dinner in a Jersey City restaurant to a reading of 17th Century
American Poetry by firelight at the Dr. William Robinson Plantation in Clark,
New Jersey.
For more information on the magazine or the fiction contest,
people should contact David Messineo, 2 Radio Avenue, apt. A-5, Secaucus, New
Jersey, 07094. A $250 prize will be awarded to the best story. The deadline for
submissions is Sept. 30.
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