Community of Literary Magazines and Presses
| Formation | 1967 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Robie Macauley, Reed Whittemore, Jules Chametzky, George Plimpton, William Phillips |
| Type | Literary organization |
| Headquarters | 154 Christopher Street, Suite 3C |
| Location | |
Region served | Worldwide |
| Services | Supports independent literary publishers and fosters literary communities; administers the CLMP Firecracker Awards |
Membership | 1,000+ (2024) |
Official language | English |
Executive Director | Mary Gannon |
Staff | 6 |
| Website | www |
Formerly called | Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines (1967–1989) Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (1989–2015) |
The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) is an American organization of independent literary publishers and magazines. As of 2024[update] it has a membership of more 1,000 organizations/publishers, from "those with budgets of less than $5,000 to those of more than $1 million."[1] The organization also administers the CLMP Firecracker Awards.
History[edit]
CLMP was founded in 1967 by Robie Macauley, Reed Whittemore (The Carleton Miscellany, The New Republic); Jules Chametzky (The Massachusetts Review); George Plimpton (The Paris Review); and William Phillips (The Partisan Review) as the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines (CCLM) at the suggestion of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).[2]
In 1976, the CCLM received a grant of $439,636 from the Ford Foundation "for a project designed to improve the distribution of small magazines and to increase the awareness of the public to the existence of these publications, which, through the century, have been the breeding ground for many of our most illustrious writers."[3] That same year, however, the Literature Panel of the NEA terminated the $400,000 annual grant to the CCLM, claiming the organization was too "'elitist' and dominated by a few of the largest and most prestigious literary magazines."[2] The NEA funding was later restored.[citation needed]
In 1989, the organization was renamed as the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses.[4]
In 2000, CLMP Online was launched as an online resource providing technical assistance and information services for literary publishers and as an internet center for information about the field for readers, writers, media, and the general public.
In 2009, CLMP had about 350 members, half with a budget of less than $10,000.[5]
In April 2015, the organization took its current name.
Firecracker Awards[edit]
FABs[edit]
The first Firecracker Alternative Book Awards, or "FABs", were founded in 1996 by John Davis of Koen Book Distribution,[6] and were presented through 2002. The awards "were designed to honor books on the 'unmapped edges of contemporary culture' that 'sharpen the cutting edge'";[6] categories included Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Politics, Sex, Music, Graphic Novel, Kids/Young Adult, Art/Photo, Drugs, Sex, and Special Recognition/Wildcard Categories. Winners "were selected via an online voting system."[6]
The FABs were administered by volunteers rather than an official organization, and after 2002 the task became "unsustainable."[6] CLMP was approached at that time about continuing the awards, but the organization passed on the opportunity for a couple of reasons, one being that the voting system "bore a lack of transparency that raised concerns,"[6] and the other being that CLMP felt it needed to gain more solid financial footing before it took on administering a set of literary awards.
| Year | Category | Author | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996[7] | Graphic Novel | Art Spiegelman & Robert Sikoryak, eds. | The Narrative Corpse |
| Sex | Kitty Tsui | Breathless: Erotica | |
| 1997[7] | Graphic Novel | Ted Rall | Real Americans Admit: "The Worst Thing I've Ever Done" |
| Art/Photo | Susie Bright & Jill Posener, eds. | Nothing but the Girl: the Blatant Lesbian Image: A Portfolio and Exploration of Lesbian Erotic Photography | |
| Special Recognition/Wildcard Categories | Paul Joannides with Dærick Gröss Sr. (illus.) | The Guide to Getting it On | |
| 1998 | Graphic Novel | Bob Fingerman | Minimum Wage Book 2: Tales of Hoffman[8] |
| 1999[7] | Fiction | Carol Queen | The Leather Daddy and the Femme |
| Poetry | Michael Madsen | Burning In Paradise[9] | |
| Politics | Gary Webb | Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Cocaine Explosion | |
| Graphic Novel | Eric Drooker | Street Posters and Ballads: A Selection of Songs, Poems, and Graphics | |
| Music | Michael J. Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind | Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground | |
| 2000[10] | Poetry | Alan Kaufman (writer), ed. | The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry |
| Children's Book | Subcomandante Marcos | The Story of Colors/La Historia de los Colores: A Bilingual Folktale from the Jungles of Chiapas | |
| Graphic Novel | Julie Doucet | My New York Diary | |
| 2001[7] | Fiction | Neal Pollack | The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature |
| Politics | Ralph Nader | The Ralph Nader Reader | |
| Graphic Novel | Chris Ware | Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth | |
| Special Recognition — Spoken Word | Daphne Gottlieb | Why Things Burn | |
| 2002[7] | Poetry | Dodie Bellamy | Cunt-Ups |
| Graphic Novel | Joe Sacco | Palestine |
CLMP Firecracker Awards[edit]
The revitalized CLMP Firecracker Awards returned in 2015.[11][6] "[B]roadening the focus from strictly unorthodox works,"[6] the CLMP Firecrackers are presented annually "to celebrate books and magazines that make a significant contribution to our literary culture and the publishers that strive to introduce important voices to readers far and wide."[12] The awards include five categories: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, best debut in magazine, and general excellence in magazine.
According to a Publisher Weekly article on the revitalized Firecrackers, "the new awards will be judged by a panel of writers, editors, booksellers, and agents. Members of the Firecracker Committee include representatives from, in addition to CLMP and the ABA, Tin House, Workman Publishing, Random House, Byliner, Greenlight Books, and a host of literary agents...."[6]
In the book categories, winning presses receive $1,000-2,000, and authors or translators receive $1,000.[12] Magazine winners receive $1,000 each.[12] The winning titles are also showcased in CLMP's national publicity campaigns.[12]
| Year | Category | Author | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015[11] | Fiction | Jeffery Renard Allen | Song of the Shank |
| Creative Nonfiction | Marie NDiaye | Self-Portrait in Green | |
| Poetry | Bernadette Mayer | Sonnets: Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition | |
| Graphic Novel | Hubert Boulard and Kerascoët | Beauty (Beauté) | |
| Young Adult | Patty Blount | Some Boys | |
| Magazines/For Poetry | Poetry | ||
| Magazines/Best Debut | Story | ||
| Magazines/General Excellence | Tin House | ||
| 2016[13] | Fiction | Andrés Neuman | The Things We Don't Do |
| Poetry | Anne Boyer | Garments Against Women | |
| 2017[14] | Fiction | Ananda Devi with Jeffrey Zuckerman (trans.) | Eve Out of Her Ruins |
| Poetry | Douglas Kearney | Buck Studies | |
| 2018[14] | Fiction | Rivers Solomon | An Unkindness of Ghosts |
| 2019[14] | Fiction | Casey Plett | Little Fish |
| Poetry | Sesshu Foster | City of the Future | |
| 2020[15] | Fiction | Johannes Anyuru with Saskia Vogel (trans.) | They Will Drown in their Mothers' Tears |
| Creative Nonfiction | Jehanne Dubrow | throughsmoke | |
| Poetry | Jena Osman | Motion Studies | |
| Laura Moriarty | Personal Volcano | ||
| Magazines/Best Debut | Porter House Review | ||
| Magazines/General Excellence | Two Lines Journal | ||
| 2021[16] | Fiction | Aoko Matsuda with Polly Barton (trans.) | Where the Wild Ladies Are |
| Creative Nonfiction | Melissa Valentine | The Names of All the Flowers | |
| Poetry | Justin Phillip Reed | The Malevolent Volume | |
| Magazines/Best Debut | Lucky Jefferson | ||
| Magazines/General Excellence | Mizna | ||
| 2022[17][18] | Fiction | Celeste Mohammed | Pleasantview |
| Creative Nonfiction | Allison Cobb | Plastic: An Autobiography | |
| Poetry | Truong Tran | book of the other: small in comparison | |
| Magazines/Best Debut | Sistories | ||
| Magazines/General Excellence | Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora | ||
| 2023[19] | Fiction | Zain Khalid | Brother Alive |
See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- Lingeman, Richard R. (June 5, 1977). "BOOK ENDS". The New York Times.
- McDowell, Edwin (March 18, 1983). "PUBLISHING: STARTING OUT IN THE LITTLE MAGAZINES". The New York Times.
References[edit]
- ^ "History". About CLMP. CLMP.org. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ a b "Editors' Choice: Books Ends". The New York Times. Sep 5, 1976.
- ^ "Briefs on the Arts: Small Magazines Get Publicity Aid". The New York Times. March 30, 1976. p. 32.
- ^ "CLMP History". CLMP. Archived from the original on 29 November 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
- ^ "Membership facts". CLMP. Archived from the original on 9 February 2001. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Swanson, Clare (May 29, 2014). "BEA 2014: Firecrackers Are Back". Publishers Weekly.
- ^ a b c d e "List of Firecracker Award winners". librarything.com. LibraryThing. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
- ^ "Fingerman Collection Wins Book Award". News Watch. The Comics Journal. No. 205. June 1998. p. 27.
- ^ Waldo, Thea (July 16, 2006). Celebrities and Their Culinary Creations: Autographed Photos, Biographies, Trivia, & Recipes. iUniverse. ISBN 978-0-595-39753-2 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Firecracker Alternative Book Awards". ReadersRead.com. Archived from the original on Mar 4, 2009.
- ^ a b "The 2015 Firecracker Award Winners". CLMP. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Firecracker Awards". Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
- ^ "Announcing the 2016 Firecracker Award Winners". CLMP. 2016. Archived from the original on May 25, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Firecracker Awards Winners archive". CLMP.org.
- ^ "Awards: CLMP Firecracker Winners". Shelf Awareness. 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
- ^ "Awards: Firecracker Winners". Shelf Awareness. 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
- ^ "Awards: Firecracker Winners". Shelf Awareness. 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
- ^ Schaub, Michael (2022-06-24). "CLMP Announces Firecracker Award Winners". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
- ^ "Here are the winners of the 2023 Firecracker Awards". Literary Hub. 2023-06-23. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
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