HELLO! We Are Kismet!
Welcome to the first Volume of The Kismet Magazine! We are a not-for-profit literary magazine that publishes speculative fiction, non-fiction, and poetry focusing on speculative themes. A little over a year ago, a few of us were discussing the world of speculative fiction magazines. The conversation was full of adoration for the form but also a longing for a publication that did a few specific things:
- A publication that intentionally created a community of its own.
- A publication that focused on frequently marginalized voices, non-western perspectives, transgressive ideas, etc.
- A publication that functioned between media and academia. Both putting out the content and discussing it critically.
While we found magazines that did a little bit of each of these, we couldn’t locate one that had them all. So as proponents of the idea that if you want to see something exist sometimes you must make it yourself, we did exactly that.
kismet (noun) kis·met 1: a hypothetical force or personified power that determines the course of the future events: fate, destiny
The name of the magazine came from a love for the oft fated interactions a few on staff felt were created by the community of speculative fiction readers we were a part of. Reflecting on the past year working on this project it often feels like a lot of kismet was involved to get us to this point. We hope that our magazine can be a force for the futurities we all want to live in. With that hope we chose three core principles to guide our thoughts as we craft this publication. These principles exist around a set of words as well. We are word people, and we will not apologize for being extra with it.
The first word is Conjure.
conjure (verb)
con·jure
1: to charge or entreat earnestly or solemnly
2a: to summon by or as if by invocation or incantation
b(1): to affect or effect by or as if by magic
Good speculative fiction often conjures a world around you. Builds a castle brick by brick in front of our eyes, summons the soil of a new world under our bare feet, and allows us to exist even if for a moment in societies that are more just, equitable, caring, etc. We endeavor at The Kismet Magazine to publish words that conjure better worlds for all of us.
The second word is Dismantle.
dismantle (verb)
dis·man·tle
1: to disconnect the pieces of
will have to dismantle the engine
also: to destroy the integrity or functioning of
The program was later dismantled due to a lack of funding.
Our publication exists in the context of a world on fire. In so many ways, we are watching things crumble to coal and ash around us. Seeking to create a community centered on speculative fiction “doing the good work” came in part from a weariness with the world of publication that has existed for so long. One that upholds the meaningless destruction we are facing. We imagine dismantling to be intentional. By working to swim against the streams of process that have been laid before us we hope to create something new. To dismantle and to conjure from the space that opens in that new absence.
The third and final word is Evolve.
evolve (verb)
2a: derive, educe
We hope that like any good art the pieces within leave a mark. That after your adventure in the lands conjured between lines, and after the dismantling of systems that no longer serve us, that you are changed. That you have derived something new in yourself or the spaces you inhabit. It may sound overly optimistic but truly we hope that by existing together in these pages and their peripheries, even if in small ways, we are able to evolve.
From these three words we hope to build something with you all! To create art and delight in it. We are so happy that you all have joined us for this journey, whatever it unfolds to be. Please converse with us, build with us, and read with us!
Happy Reading Earthlings!
The Kismet Magazine 