That means literary magazines, and some wonder why they exist with their scant readership. Some thoughts:

• Little magazines serve more than one purpose. Groups of writers work out new ideas in them. Young writers train themselves up editing and publishing them. Readers and writers make their town an arts community in part by publishing and reading in coffee shops and on campuses. They don't work like a sculpture in the town square. In them, creative writing is underway, heading out, trying things, seeking readers who want to come along. They rise and fall, flower and go to seed--they have their own nature that way. They matter differently than a masterpiece matters, even though once in a while they give the world a masterpiece.