Glimmer Train will join Tin House magazine as the second major literary journal to close its doors in 2019.
The last issue of the iconic rag, which has been published continuously for nearly thirty years, will be published in October.
Founded by two sisters, Susan and Linda, in 1990, Glimmer Train established itself as a tireless champion of new and emerging writers, as well as a paying market with literary cachet.
According to the site, Glimmer Train paid out some $50K to writers in 2018.
New Pages has a thoughtful and thorough write-up of Glimmer Train’s announcement that this year will be their last, so definitely check it out.
And perhaps Ms. Hill has it right: perhaps we should be celebrating the fact that Glimmer Train has served the literary community for over a generation, instead of mourning what feels like another major loss for readers of literary fiction.
The Glimmer Train Sisters figured out two things: How to manage the work load and how to make enough money to make it worthwhile for them to manage the work load.
As Ms. Hill says, countless literary magazines fold every day. To make it one entire year, much less twenty-nine, really defies the odds.
Happy trails, Glimmer Train. It’s hard to see anyone filling the void you’ll leave behind, though many will try.