Ben Brown and Ani Moller Credit: Photo By John Anderson

Illustrative Author Interview/Testimonial No. 1

Atlanta’s Jamie Allen (LandofCalpernia.com), The Horrible Humour & Other Stories

Austin Chronicle: What kind of refuge does an outfit like So New Media provide for someone with your style and world-view?

Jamie Allen: I don’t think style and world-view have all that much to do with it. If I had a different style and world-view and still knew how to communicate that through writing, they would still want to publish me, I’m sure. Outfits like SNM are on the cutting edge of the New Fiction or the Punk/Lit. literary movement, whatever you want to call it. They provide young writers who find success on various lit Web sites with the legitimacy of getting published in print, and the experience of selling their work to the masses using whatever marketing techniques they can imagine. They help writers build their names and their body of work. SNM et al. are cultivating a generation of authors, giving them a new outlet to express themselves, bypassing the traditional literary journals, which take months to simply reject work. SNM is doing a very good and worthy thing.

AC: Would it be fair to call you the Richard Ford for people who couldn’t care less about Richard Ford?

JA: That’s pretty good. I don’t think it’s fair to Richard Ford. I’m a hack. He’s a PEN/Faulkner winner. But can I quote you on that for my next book?

AC: No. Maybe. Tell me what Saturday’s Jam means to you. What does it represent?

JA: First and foremost, I’ll get to meet SNM founders James Stegall and Ben Brown in person and thank them with giant hugs. Maybe I’ll buy the house a round. No, I won’t do that. Also, it’ll be fun to return to Austin; last time I was there, I was writing for CNN.com on SXSW. And finally, it’ll be nice to meet in person with Gen. Neal Pollack, the Greatest Living American Writer. I haven’t seen him since we played on the same tennis team in Rome. The world has certainly changed since then. That brings me to the last point here: The SNM Punk/Lit. Jam represents the start of a revolution, led by Gen. Pollack and his army, of which I’m a proud member (Sniper, First Class). We aim to dethrone Richard Ford et al. and then be dethroned by some young punks who come along when we’re PEN/Faulkner winners.

This article appears in August 30 • 2002.

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