NYPL Blogs: Periodically Speaking

Just Who Was DeWitt Wallace, Anyway?

Raymond Pun, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, General Research Division — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 06:01:50 -0500

In the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, there is a reading room with high wooden carved ceiling called the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Reading Room. You may have seen the historical room decorated with large murals reflecting major publishers of periodicals, newspapers and books at the turn of the century by Richard Haas, an American muralist known for his architectural murals.

The wifi'ed room also provides access to some of the most popular and current printed newspapers and magazines from U.S. and abroad including The Economist, The New Yorker, Vogue, Le Monde, and our zine collection. All for FREE to read!

If you work or live in vicinity of the Library, you can escape from the midtown madness by reading and lounging in one of the Library's magnificent reading rooms. The reading room is currently funded by the Wallace Foundation devoted to the collection of periodicals. There are two reasons why I like this room aside from the architecture and murals: 1. It may be perhaps the quietest room in the Library. 2. I dare not to reveal their identities but I have spotted a few popular celebrities and literary scholars who have sat in Room 108 and gazed at the ceiling and murals in awe.

Having worked in the Periodicals Division for a few years now, I have always wondered about DeWitt Wallace's history. Thus I looked him up and found some interesting facts about him:

DeWitt Wallace (1889-1981) co-founded Reader's Digest with his wife Lila Wallace. (The Reader's Digest can also be requested in Room 108).
From the Encyclopedia of World Biography: "During World War I, Mr. Wallace was enlisted in the Army, was sent to France and in 1918 was seriously wounded in action near Verdun. He passed the hours in a French military hospital editing superfluous words from magazine articles, preparing himself for the Reader's Digest."
In 1920, the Library was his "personal office" where he served as the magazine's only condenser and spent "countless hours in the Periodical Room, reading and condensing articles from the Library's collection."
Founded in 1922, the Reader's Digest was initially rejected countless times by publishers. "Only William Randolph Hearst (founder of Hearst Publications) was slightly encouraging saying that the magazine might in time circulate 300,000 copies a month." (New York Times, April, 1st, 1981, p. D23).
By 1981, "its circulation is 30.5 million copies a month for more than 100 million readers in 163 countries." (Ibid).
The Reader's Digest was one of the "first major periodicals (in 1954) to link cigarette smoking and cancer, and it frequently attacked unfair business practices. The Digest's most famous article, '...And Sudden Death,' published in August 1935, graphically portrayed the hazards of reckless driving. It became the most widely reprinted article in magazine history, with four million copies in circulation." (From the Encyclopedia of World Biography, Dec. 12, 1998).
Today the magazine covers everything from health to financial tips and beyond. Mr. Wallace stated, "the final condensation" when he was asked what he thought would be the epitaph of the magazine. (New York Times, April, 1st, 1981, p. D23).
On March 30th, 1981, Mr. Wallace died of pneumonia at his house in Mount Kisco, New York. He was 91.
On April 1st, 1981, The New York Times obituary section described Mr. Wallace as a frugal person: "Memos to staff members often arrived on the back of a used envelope. He clicked off unused lights. For years he drove a rather battered car. His one travel extravagance was a private plane, which he learned to fly and in which he cruised, usually at 2,000 feet, while gathering editorial thoughts." (Ibid).
DeWitt Wallace also has a museum named after him: DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum located in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Print biographies of DeWitt Wallace.
Online biographies of DeWitt Wallace.

Today, the Periodical Reading Room occasionally holds Periodically Speaking, a reading series hosted by Karen Gisonny, that provides a major venue for emerging writers to present their work while emphasizing the diversity of America’s literary magazines and the magazine collections of The New York Public Library.

For 2013, Periodically Speaking will return on the second Tuesdays of April, May and June from 6 pm to 7:30 pm. Check us out on Facebook for periodic program updates and collection news!

NYPL Loves Zines and Zines Love NYPL

Karen Gisonny, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Collection Strategy — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:09:36 -0400

Fall into zines and head over to Pete's Mini Zinefest this Sunday, September 25, from 2 to 7 p.m. — you'll help support the Library too! I recently met Andria Alefhi, an organizer of the zinefest event, when NYPL added her wonderful zine, We'll Never Have Paris, to the its landmark zine collection. I was so moved when Alefhi told me her idea to donate part of the zinefest proceeds to NYPL.

Since zines are frequently distributed by creators through exchange, trade, and zinefests, building community and sharing in this way is an integral part of the zine experience. I'm thrilled NYPL can be a part of it! Over 20 writers and comic artists will showcase their books and zines at Pete's Candy Store on Sunday, September 25, from 2 to 7 p.m. The zinefest kicks off Saturday evening, September 24, from 6 to 9 p.m., with readings by participants. You can also find the zinefest on Facebook.

Periodically Speaking with Katy Lederer

Karen Gisonny, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Collection Strategy — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 06:33:57 -0500

Poetry and Thought with Fence Magazine

I'm really excited about the program for Periodically Speaking: Focus on Poetry tonight. The featured journal is Fence magazine and poetry editor Katy Lederer will be joined by poets Rodrigo Toscano, Gary Heidt, Ken Chen and Sarah Gambito for an in depth discussion of content, as distinct from form, in contemporary poetry. The program begins with brief readings by the poets followed by conversation.

Also looking forward to meeting Katy Lederer. I'm a big fan of the literary zine Explosive - the publication she edited for ten years. Each is a beautifully produced, stapled zine with original covers (Issue 6 here is my favorite) and poetry from across the country. I remember searching high and low for copies of it several years ago to add to the periodicals collection. I eventually exchanged emails with Katy and she sent me the issues she had remaining - check them out. Join us tonight for a stimulating conversation in one of the most beautiful public spaces in the city!

The Magathon

Karen Gisonny, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Collection Strategy — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:44:22 -0400

In 2002, we had our first public program in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room, it was a collaboration with CLMP (Council of Literary Magazines & Presses) called “the Magathon”. The Library and CLMP shared the same goal, to support and celebrate literary magazines and what better place to hold the event then a beautiful public space, that collected and housed a vast collection of contemporary literary magazines.

This event and collaboration has continued every year since and with the same goal. So come to the Library Saturday afternoon, June 19th, as the annual celebratory "marathon," or "Magathon," reading once again gets underway in the Periodicals Room.

Magazines of all shapes and sizes will be showcased. From the established Agni and New York Quarterly, to online journals Puerto del Sol, drunken boat, to the multi- platform Electric Literature, to personal favorites Canteen & Fence, to Brooklyn based Slice and A Public Space and others I look forward to discovering like MAKE, Lalitamba and Anderbo.

The event puts the spotlight on the faces behind the magazines, as editors read favorite selections from their journals. Check out the slideshow below for the full, awesome lineup.

The Library’s collection is a unique, one of a kind resource for all who love independent literary publishing and literary mags. Join us Saturday and help us celebrate it !

Don’t forget Sunday - GIANT Lit Mag Fair at Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café, 126 Crosby Street in Soho - magazines $2 each!

Rain Taxi featured at next Periodically Speaking: Focus on Poetry

Karen Gisonny, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Collection Strategy — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:40:07 -0400

"The Poet as critic" is the topic for the next Periodically Speaking: Focus on Poetry event and we'll appropriately be featuring the Mineapolis-based journal Rain Taxi. Rain Taxi is an eclectic, thoughtful publication, filled to the brim four times a year with literary criticism, interviews and reviews of poetry, non fiction & graphic novels. Although it covers the spectrum of American publishing at its heart are small presses and innovative publishing.

RT Editor Eric Lorderer will moderate the conversation with poets Maureen N. McLane, Craig Morgan Teicher and Jordan Davis. Join us for brief readings by the writers, followed by an in-depth discussion on poets reviewing poetry next Tuesday, May 11, 2010 in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room at 6:00 pm.

(Watch past Periodically Speaking events!)

Periodically Speaking: Focus on Poetry

Karen Gisonny, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Collection Strategy — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:14:56 -0400

NYPL and CLMP will kick off a new season of Periodically Speaking next Tuesday with a new format and we hope you'll join us. It's been 5 years since we began Periodically Speaking, and to celebrate we'll be launching something different for 2010. It'll be one journal, an editor and several poets in brief readings and discussions. The original ideas behind PS are the same; showcasing the Library's great literary magazine collection in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room and providing an opportunity for emerging writers to present their work.

"Off Topic: Poets on the subjects and cultural influences that seep into their work" is the first event and features an impressive line up (thanks to the amazing clmp!) starting with journal - A Public Space. The thing that intrigues me about A Public Space is it creates this global conversation by publishing many writers from around the world... plus I like the cool covers and graphic design. The moderator Brett Fletcher Lauer, is APS poetry editor and Managing Director of the Poetry Society of America. His poetry has appeared in Jubilat, Boston Review and La Petite Zine among others and he co-edited a favorite collections of love poems - Isn’t it Romantic: 100 Love Poems by Younger American Poets. Poet Timothy Donnelly published his first book of poetry in 2003 - Twenty-seven Props for a Production of Eine Lebenszeit and his 2nd second, Cloud Corporation, is coming this year. Jennifer Kronovet is the co-founder & co-editor of the journal Circumference: Poetry in Translation (another favorite!) and is the author of the poetry collection Awayward.

Other dates in the spring series are May 11th and June 8th. Join us on Facebook!

Premiere Issues Magazine Archive: A dream come true!

Karen Gisonny, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Collection Strategy — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:29:00 -0500

Want to know when a journal’s first issue was published? What that issue # 1 looked like? Need to track down the editor for those impossible to find back issues? Discover what new titles are missing from the collection?

Premiere Issues: An Archive of Magazine Firsts answers these questions and many more that persistently plague serials librarians. The site’s mission “to provide a home for those first issues to live, be read and shared by an international audience,” was begun in 2002 by Danielle Huthart and is a growing collection of 200 or so issues. Included are the often beautiful covers (Huthart’s concentration is art, fashion, design, and culture), launch issue statement by the editor, publisher & creative director contact, frequency and on & on. Although carefully curated, it feels like a collaborative effort with Huthart encouraging submissions, information on new magazines, and comments & feedback. It's fantastic - take a look!

Periodically Speaking tonight with journals Bidoun, Many Mountains Moving and Washington Square

Karen Gisonny, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Collection Strategy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:39:16 -0500

What better way to kick off your election night then an evening in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room – relax, listen to great new writers introduced by their editors, join us for a glass of wine afterward, all still with plenty of time to catch the election results. The line up begins with Editor Thaddeus Rutkowski (Many Mountains Moving) introducing fiction writer Jon Swan, followed by Levi Rubeck (Washington Square) introducing poet Elisa Gabbert and wrapping up with Michael Vazquez (Bidoun) introducing non fiction writer Anand Balakrishnan. Periodically Speaking showcases NYPL’s great collection of contemporary literary magazines. Lots of librarians have worked on building the collection over the years and for awhile now I've been doing it - lucky me! So - come back (either in person or at www.nypl.org) and check out the vast holdings of literary magazines, poetry titles, small & alternative press materials of all kinds! Tonight the reading begins at 6:00 pm at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building – 5th Ave and 42nd St.

Periodically Speaking returns with Slice, Inkwell and Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas

Karen Gisonny, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Collection Strategy — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:36:33 -0400

Literary magazine aficionados, myself included, will meet up in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room at HSSL as Periodically Speaking returns on Tuesday, October 14th. It’s a thrill to begin our 4th season hosting the series, which aims to connect editors, writers, readers, librarians, and lovers of literature & lit mags with each other, and the Library’s one-of-a-kind collection. Each evening highlights three periodicals, with editors of each introducing an emerging writer. The cool thing to me about Periodically Speaking is that not only do you get to hear some wonderful new literary voices and editor’s talk about their journals (which I love!) but that it happens in an incredibly beautiful public space – the Periodicals Room. Don’t miss it and stay afterward for the reception!

First up is Slice Magazine - in this new Brooklyn based journal, editors Maria Gagliano and Celia Johnson create dialogue between emerging and established writers. A new issue just out (# 3) titled “In translation”, includes interviews with Salman Rusdie and Kathryn Harrison and a story by Patricia Engel, an exciting (and emerging) young writer and a Periodically Speaking alum! Celia and Maria will introduce fiction writer William Giraldi. Inkwell Journal focuses on publishing emerging writers and sponsors yearly competitions in fiction & poetry. It comes out twice a year from Manhattanville College. Editor Autumn Kindelspire will introduce poet Eugenie Juliet Theall. And last (but most certainly not least) is Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas. This is the leading journal publishing Latin American writing in translation, was founded in 1968 and has published a who’s who of Latin American writers – Mario Vargas Llosa, Alejo Carpentier and Gabriel Garcia Marquez among them. Editor Daniel Shapiro will introduce the nonfiction writer Araceli Tinajero.