![]() ![]() I have the answer.’ I definitely want to be like, ‘What is already here that I can support in some way and add to?’” “I don’t come in and go, ‘I’m going to rip everything apart. “I’m really cautious about any space I come into,” Sinclair says. But the pair is conscious of not intruding on others’ work. Meanwhile, UNC Asheville, Warren Wilson College and Western Carolina University also excel at offering writing workshops and literary festivals. She and Sawchyn are tapping into these and other resources - including Story Parlor, where they hosted a reading in mid-February. She points to the aforementioned Malaprop’s and Firestorm, plus Bagatelle Books as some examples. Part of the city’s firm literary foundation, adds Sinclair, comes from existing businesses and programs. By contrast, she’s already seen Asheville’s literary community prove itself as eager and willing to support each other. She adds that in New York City, San Francisco and even Minneapolis, it can feel more disparate getting a critical mass of people to come out to literary events. “Having people willing to travel here and do events, and then already having a good network of people to read with them, and spaces that we can utilize and partners we can tap into makes it pretty special.” ![]() “While Asheville is small in terms of population, it punches above its weight in a lot of areas like music, as well as in the literary world,” Sinclair says. Once the two arrived, they soon discovered additional perks their new home had to offer the publication. In July 2022, she moved from northern Virginia outside Washington to Asheville for a job with Warren Wilson’s undergraduate creative writing program. Meanwhile, Sawchyn has had several friends attend Warren Wilson College and became fond of the area during visits. She’s been visiting the area since she was a baby and has made lasting connections with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe and Firestorm Books & Coffee through her work as a publicist. Originally from Lancaster, S.C., Sinclair wanted to live closer to her family and relocated to Asheville from Minneapolis in January 2021. ![]() In addition to their similar names, the colleagues also have overlapping ties to the Asheville area. ![]() Yet even with this concerted focus and renewed energy, the two are realistic about the challenges they face in an ever-evolving industry.īut if they go down, they’ll do so fighting. The magazine is a labor of love as both Sinclair and Sawchyn work full-time jobs elsewhere, but change may be on the horizon. One of the team’s major goals is to convert its business model from a for-profit into a nonprofit. “For a lot of writers, the idea that they have a home and their writing shares a space with some of these prolific, famous people is really important and interesting,” Sawchyn says.Īnd now that the publication’s two leaders share a home base and coworking space, they feel The Rumpus can be more strategic as it plans for the future. But for numerous up-and-coming authors, The Rumpus is their first notable publication. Volunteer-run with editors all over the United States and a few abroad, the online entity publishes original fiction, essays, poetry, book reviews, comics and author interviews by contributors from across the globe.Īmong the founding and early contributors who helped establish its reputation are Roxane Gay, Cheryl Strayed, Samantha Irby and Isaac Fitzgerald. But now that they’re both here, Publisher Alyson Sinclair and Editor-in-Chief Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn are ready to engage more thoroughly with their Western North Carolina readership.įounded in 2009 in San Francisco, The Rumpus is one of the longest-running independent online literary and culture magazines. The leadership team at The Rumpus says happenstance landed them both in Asheville within the last two years. ![]()
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