I am sad to announce that the online zine Farrago’s Wainscott is closing. The reason for doing so is from an all-too-common theme:
There are many reasons behind this closure. Among them, of course, is cost. While our operating budget is comparatively small, the realities of offering free online literature while yet compensating our contributors have made the project unsustainable.
Farrago’s Wainscott was the place for online experimental speculative fiction. The work they published was more cutting-edge than anyone else in the field. Endorsed by people like Warren Ellis, Farrago’s was a place where you could always find something interesting. The editors didn’t seem concerned that people wouldn’t like everything they did; they wanted to published stuff to make you think.
For me, that is exactly what experimental fiction is about. I like it a lot in theory, I like practicing it, and often I like reading it. But it can be very obtuse and difficult. Like avant garde jazz, sometimes you suspect it’s more fun to be on stage than in the audience. I will miss Farrago’s Wainscott, but at least there’s one more issue before they’re gone.
John Klima is the editor of the Hugo and World Fantasy nominated magazine Electric Velocipede. He works full time as a librarian at a small college in the Midwest.
