An Elegy for Oxford American

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August 8, 2012

There has been a shakeup recently at literary magazine The Oxford American. Editor and founder Marc Smirnoff and managing editor Carol Ann Fitzgerald were fired on July 15. They have since compiled a website detailing events leading up to and after their firing. The story is part passionate defense, part manifesto, part elegy, with some oversharing and intense honesty thrown in for good measure. It’s hard to know what to make of the story but it is a shame to see such turmoil at a longstanding, interesting literary magazine.

BSKY

Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, Difficult Women, Hunger, Opinions, and others. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. Roxane was the founding Essays Editor for The Rumpus and is now the site editor and co-owner. You can find her at roxanegay.com.

One response

Kirk

August 8, 2012

My eyes glazed over after the first 5 minutes of reading that long and winding e-paper trail. Mark sort of glazes over the nature of “at-will” employment. Sure an employer can terminate you for the color of your shirt, or any other reason you may choose. Or you may terminate your employer at any time for any reason, including being knaves and scumbags.

Sounds like he just got beat to the punch.