HISTORY
OUTBREATH IS a short-story magazine which publishes in each issue: short-stories by Tufts writers, a one-act play, a short-story or essay by a Tufts professor, and a reprint of a piece by an established, non-Tufts author. As a young magazine (first publication: fall 1998), we are not yet always able to produce all of the elements. But we aim for everything, every issue.
OUTBREATH'S PROCESS IS specific in two departments. In the editorial department, there is an editing and re-visioning process that goes on during the time between the stories' selection and their publication. This gives staff members a chance to learn the art of being an editor and writers the art of working with one. It also allows for writers to re-visit their stories and respond to reactions by an initial group of readers before being set in ink for a larger audience. In the art department, Outbreath has staff illustrators who create original photography inspired by the stories in each issue. The words inspire the photographs, and perhaps then, those photographs will inspire future stories from new writers creating a continuously sparking circle.
Some things I'd like to see in OUTBREATH'S FUTURE would be writing workshops for Tufts students, public readings, guest speakers on both short-story writing and magazine publishing, student-led writing workshops for Somerville/Medford teenagers, and general exploration of the question, what makes a short-story?
Many of my friends refer to Outbreath as my "baby," because I founded the magazine two years ago. Well, perhaps it was my zygote, but it certainly would never have become a fully developed, out-breathing baby without all the other parents who fed and raised it. Outbreath's staff is always changing and there is plenty of room for anybody to be involved, be you a writer, a reader, a photographer, or a business person. Outbreath certainly has plenty of toiling hands. And it has you. Thanks for reading.
Good thoughts, Cal Levis, Founding Editor (LA, '01)
(Reprint from Editor's Note, Outbreath Spring 2000 issue.)
