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Pif Enriches the Net with Panache

© Kay Day

When I first began to expore literary zines on the Net, I ran into Pif quite by accident. I'd entered the word, "poetry," into a search, and that zine was one of the thousands of matches returned. I was looking for a selfish reason. I wanted to submit some of my poetry, and zines that offered payment were few and far between.

The staff didn't know me or my work. So I was elated when an acceptance arrived, and a check soon followed. I felt obligated to state all that up front. Two years later, Pif remains a favorite of mine. That has everything to do with quality, and nothing to do with the fact I've published there.

One of the reasons I respect the zine so much rests on the lack of politics. We all know about politics. Many of us have experienced the effects. I recall receiving a rejection slip from an editor who 'pined, "Send us only your very best work." I revisited the zine, and decided I was grateful for the rejection, because the work in the publication varied from really good to really lousy. Politics. You see that everywhere these days.

Anyway, aside from the fact that Pif has poetry by Billy Collins in this issue, and Collins is a new favorite of mine, this zine has collected assorted essays, fiction, and poetry in an attractive perfect bound anthology, The Best of Pif Magazine Off-line. (I publicly thank R.J. McCafferey, a poet who edits Eye Dialect, for insisting I read Collins closely, and listen to him as well.)

This anthology is a treat to read and re-read. A personal favorite in the fiction offerings is Mimi Carmen's, "Love Birds." Rather than give the story away, I pose the following: if you have a mother, read the story. It's eloquently written, with a poetic slant.

There are interviews with Naomi Shahib Nye, Ken Kalfus, Rick Moody, and Aimee Bender. I learn more from reading interviews with writers than I do reading volumes of literary theory, and the interview with Bender is a gem.

Poetry by Allison E. Jenks and Robert McDowell round out the literary collection in a most pleasing manner. Jenks, in particular, has an uncanny ability to pull a reader into very poetic language, but in a very natural and unforced manner.

An absolute must read is Richard Weems's "I'm Available to Edit the New Yorker." If you haven't laughed recently, go and read this composition. It's funny, and that's a hard row to hoe regardless of writing ability.

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