PATTERN RECOGNITION

About PATTERN RECOGNITION

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People of all stripes regularly bemoan the fact that there is no longer a viable outlet for noteworthy short fiction of any type, traditional, experimental or genre-driven. The same, of course, might be said of intelligent Gen-X writing in general, given the unwillingness of the mainstream magazines to allow us a foot in the door. Sure, there are plenty of webzines and the digital like out there—so many, in fact, that it is increasingly challenging to separate the wheat from the chaff; but we’re talking about print journals and magazines. There are virtually no such publications remaining that have an editorial stance conducive to harnessing the truly alternative and/or artistic mindset. In brief, well-crafted short fiction no longer has a material home, especially that written by the hipster individualists of our generation.

             So how are we to go about rectifying this unfortunate situation? Should we circle the wagons? After all, there’s strength in numbers, right?

            Around 2009, when R. W. Watkins suggested that the editors at webzine Red Fez publish a print anthology of noted Gen-X writers and shoot a documentary about the alternative literary scene (“á la Poetry in Motion”), chief editor Michele McDannold sardonically pointed out that it is difficult enough to tolerate such writers in an Internet context, given all their egoism and backbiting; let alone include such people in a major book or documentary. That was several years ago, and both McDannold and Watkins have long since left Red Fez. But for a lot of us, McDannold’s assertion is still an intimation of reality. Or is it?

            Watkins not only still insists that organizing for the sake of such projects (and therefore the greater good) is the way forward, but also that filling the holes left by our jaded or disillusioned predecessors should be a major point of focus. For Watkins, this has meant the publication of magazines such as Contemporary Ghazals, the world’s first and only English-language journal dedicated to the Asian verse form that lends it its title; and the more recent Eastern Structures, which is dedicated to 5-7-5 haiku and other Japanese forms written in the traditional syllabic structures which have been largely abandoned in recent decades by the haiku mainstream.  

            “It’s also difficult these days to find a place to publish comics or intelligent essays about said art form,” says Watkins. “Fantagraphics no longer publishes The Comics Journal or even bothers to put out individual 24- or 32-page comics any longer. And don’t even think about trying to launch a new daily newspaper strip through the syndicates! It’s even hard to find a decent place online to post original, well-intentioned comics analyses nowadays—unless, of course, you wish to discuss who’s sexier, Storm or Spider-Woman.”

            Watkins hasn’t let such a bleak situation render him neutered and apathetic, however; his Comics Decoder site has been filling a gap in the comics world since 2009. Like McDannold, his cultural presence now extends to the pages of this new magazine, where he continues to fill a gap.

            As does all the writers, poets and artists included in Pattern Recognition No. 1. We salute you each and everyone for having the brains, balls, talent and wherewithal to rise above the obstacles and—to pinch a line from Soul Asylum—let your dim light shine.

         To quote the late great Tom McGrath (1940–2009) way back in 1967, in Issue 10 of the International Times: “The individual should be free from hindrance by external law or internal guilt in his pursuit of pleasure so long as he does not impinge on others. [...] The search for pleasure/orgasm covers every field of human activity from sex, art and inner space, to architecture, the abolition of money, outer space, and beyond.”

            That’s timeless sound advice.

 

—The Editors (Introduction to Issue 1)

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Overseeing Editorial Body:

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Amanda Williams

Llyw Evans

Jacqueline Jones

Davis P. Davis

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Contributing Editors:

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Randall Hugh Crawford

R. W. Watkins

Michele McDannold

Dennis Hyer

Mateusz Duczmal