JAAM 26 - further news

JAAM 26 is out in the world properly now, and so it seems a good time to post further info. Here's our media release:

JAAM 26 goes between the cracks

JAAM 26 is a little bit different.

Guest editor Tim Jones is both a poet and prose writer, and is well-known for his science fiction. When he called for submissions to JAAM 26 he said ‘speculative fiction and poetry (science fiction, fantasy and horror) is particularly welcomed, and will be considered on an equal footing to literary fiction and poetry’. Not surprisingly, Tim received many submissions from writers of speculative fiction, who often shy away from literary magazines.

Many of the stories in JAAM 26 could be termed ‘interstitial fiction’ – fiction that fits in the cracks between genres, or moves between one genre and another.

One such story is ‘Last chance to see’ by Tracie McBride. A woman wakes up after having died in a car accident. Her personality has been transferred into an avatar for 24 hours, so she can farewell her family and friends. In Esther Dean’s story, ‘Breathing in another language’, the protagonist, a Westerner who lives in Korea, but can’t quite fit in, grows enormous, like Alice in Wonderland, until she fills an entire temple.

Alongside the interstitial fiction, lovers of literary fiction and poetry will find plenty in JAAM 26 to satisfy them. JAAM has always encouraged new and young writers, and this issue contains the magazine’s customary mix of fresh new voices and established names. JAAM 26 includes fiction by Helen Lowe, Lyn McConchie and Beryl Fletcher, and poetry by Elizabeth Smither, Rhian Gallagher, Iain Britton and L E Scott.

Tim says ‘Although no theme was imposed on this issue, themes emerged. The eternal triumvirate – love, sex and death – all make strong showings, and there are a number of pieces that deal with aging, with landscape, and with one considered through the prism of the other.’

JAAM is published by the independent JAAM Collective based in Wellington. JAAM is supported by funding from Creative New Zealand.

JAAM 26 is available from good bookshops or by subscription. For subscription information, visit http://headworx.eyesis.co.nz/JAAM/about.php or email jaammagazine@yahoo.co.nz.

For more information, or to interview Tim Jones, contact:
Helen Rickerby
jaammagazine@yahoo.co.nz