Dear Reader,
Each snow globe in this illustration by Alli Katz depicts one of Electric Literature’s achievements this year. We reached important milestones, launched new projects, and continued to expand the ways that we connect with over 3 million readers and advocate for our writers (536 published so far in 2023).
Over the next few weeks, my colleagues and I will be sharing more about each of these achievements, but a brief summary is included below. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, and we’ve got even more in store for next year.
Please take a moment to support our work by making a year-end gift to Electric Literature. Our goal is to raise $15,000 by New Year’s Eve, which will allow us to balance our budget for this year, and start 2024 strong.
Thank you for spending the year with us! Whether you’re on our homepage every day, an occasional visitor, or a contributor, we’re so very grateful for your time and support.
Yours,
Halimah Marcus
Executive Director, Electric Literature
P.S. One third of Electric Literature’s annual budget comes from individual donations: we rely on our community to publish every day, to pay our writers, and to keep EL free for readers. Please give today.
Inside the Snow Globes
The Masquerade of the Red Death is still the literary party of the year, honoring the legacy of Edgar Allan Poe and paying homage to “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
Both/And, the first essay series of its kind, published 15 essays written and edited by trans writers of color.
Electric Lit announced our new creative nonfiction program, and received 500 submissions in 36 hours. We will begin publishing CNF essays every Thursday in January 2024.
Electric Lit partnered with Paul English and Joyce Linehan to launch Banned Books USA, which sends free banned and challenged books to Florida residents for only the cost of postage.
Our fiction magazine Recommended Reading which debuted in May 2012, published its 600th issue, an excerpt from A Nearby Country Called Love by Salar Abdoh.
Best American Short Stories selected three stories from Recommended Reading, an unprecedented feat for an online literary magazine. Best American Mystery and Suspense featured two.
For the first time, Electric Literature offered in-house manuscript consultations to writers of all experience levels. Writers received a comprehensive draft review, with detailed notes, and a video call with one of our editors.
We achieved all of this in addition to maintaining our regular publication schedule, which includes author interviews, reading lists, and robust literary coverage, five days a week.
Please make a year-end donation to support our work, and help spread the word!
