Stories for the futures we need.
When we launched our kickstarter, this was the tagline we chose. After all, we believe that literatures—stories, storytelling, reading, translations, experiencing, rereading, sharing—affect everything about the futures we can look forward to. We know that every new story is tied up in the political; in futures already being shaped today. Stories are important. And we need to acknowledge the power that they hold over us.
We deserve better futures. And we deserve the stories that will give us those futures. That’s why we chose the name “Augur”: with each new story, we perform some small reading of things that could be.
Augur is indebted to others, of course, for the life’s blood of this tagline. To theories of futurity in queer theory and disability studies. To decolonial literatures like magical realism, afrofuturism and indigenous futurisms. To the work of the many who have come before us, and who continue to do work today. Who create movements with their intellect, compassion, rightful anger, and/or drive that push us to know better; think better; listen better. Be better.
This is why we have our three dominant goals: first, to publish creators from the space currently known as Canada and around the world, highlighting Canadian and Indigenous writers; second, to explicitly bring together speculative fiction and just-barely-realism (what we call “dreamy realism”); and third, to focus on intersectional feminism, promoting marginalized and/or underrepresented voices whenever we can. These are the goals that speak to what we want to see in our stories, our worlds: these are the goals that we will aspire to meet with each issue. We look forward to learning how we can better achieve this with every publication.
Augur opened to submissions for the first time about a year ago. We were overwhelmed, at the time, by the response. With little but a new Twitter account and a dream, we received more than 500 reprint options for our Preview Issue. We thought that Augur was a publication that needed to happen. Those numbers proved to us that we were right.
So we are also indebted to those who’ve believed in us and supported us, whether you’ve been with us from the start or only heard of us a week ago. Whether as a kickstarter supporter, a social media follower, or a supportive name in our inbox. We had the idea: you are the ones who helped us make it happen.
A publication is a community, and we wouldn’t be here without ours.
Since April 2017, we’ve received a grand total of 2100 submissions from writers around the world, and have had the opportunity to read more fantastic stories from great creators than we know what to do with. We are honoured to have received this trust. We have enough content that our third issue is already taking shape, and we have been able to pay our creators rates that are competitive with the Canadian literary magazine market. For us, that’s phenomenal. Thank you.
We can’t say it enough: thank you.
Thank you for joining us in showcasing these stories; digging into these future-telling mechanisms.
This issue, our first official issue collecting previously unpublished work, is larger than we expected—just like this magazine project, it blossomed before we knew it. So we’re thrilled to invite you to explore not eight—nor nine!—but twelve pieces, by twelve creators from the space currently known as Canada and around the world. We love them all, and hope you will too.
And, once you’re done, let us know what you think. What stories you know our futures—your futures—need.
We’re listening.
– Kerrie Seljak-Byrne
