Amor Fati; Los Angeles Lit Begins

As I was skimming over Craigslist for writing jobs in Los Angeles, I came across an ad for a new literary magazine seeking submissions, Amor Fati Literary Magazine. Its inaugural issue is set to print on Valentine's Day this year, and the deadline for submissions is February 1.

The theme is "POLYAMORY". Take it as you will.

Formats include ANYTHING PRINTABLE, such as short stories, poetry, prose, essays, philosophies, letters, one-acts, scripts, flash fiction, lyrics, recipes, photography, visual art, trickery, what-have-you, new or old.

This excites me.

AMOR FATI is a quarterly digest featuring the works of Los Angeles writers, artists and creatives.

In a city of disparate parts, our aim is to create an active platform for organic and challenging exchange that is not only reflective of this generation but brings a collective voice to an anomalous city.

AMOR FATI. The Love of Fate. Tell your story.

It's fascinating to think about the literary legacy in this city-- I don't think most people think of books when they think of LA, they think of television and movies. They think of Hollywood.

But there are also those who know about Charles Bukowski and his time in LA, those who know that he spent a lot of time on 5th & Main, the intersection called the "Nickel" where that cool diner is.

In 2009, Councilmember Jan Perry submitted a proposal to name the intersection of 5th & Grand "John Fante Square" after the author whose book Ask The Dust inspired Bukowski.

Bukowski's and Fante's writing inspired the two founders of The Writers Workshop, which I joined back in May 2008 and never looked back.

One of the books that gave me a revelatory experience was Southland, which took place in Los Angeles and was written by Nina Revoyr, who currently lives here.

When I was in Paris, it was Wait Until Spring, Bandini by John Fante that I picked up at Shakespeare & Company. I admit I had some romantic fantasies about the Lost Generation and expatriotism and following in Hemingway's footstops while I was there, but I just couldn't stop thinking about Los Angeles.

There is so much going on in this city. As a hungry young writer, it would do me good to pay attention to the literary scene here, something I've hardly done in the two-years I've been here.

To facilitate this, I'm going to start a series of posts called "Los Angeles Lit," in which I'm going to document literary experiences, events, publications this city has to offer.

Thanks, Amor Fati, for being the starting point.