About
Most of us took a writing class called Text 1.
And then another called Text 2.
One of us taught that class.
All of us decided we didn't want to stop and so we created Text 3 (aka T3).
T3 is an informal writing group of visual and literary artists in Chicago that gets together to share and critique members' work, to do writing exercises, and to consume whatever food and drink people think to bring. Not satistfied with doing just that, in the Summer of 2007 we organized a theme-based writing project that resulted in an artists' book exhibition at the Lill Street Gallery in Chicago, then we did a reading at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and now we have created a journal called Little Bang so that we can reach out to other artists and authors and lovers of literature.
Little Bang publishes original pieces of written and visual art. The magazine balances itself between traditional and innovative work, focusing on sharpening skills and wit, poignancy and quality. Poetry, short stories, creative non-fiction, comics, photography, and illustration are welcome. Even-numbered issues have predetermined themes.
Contact Us
We would love to hear from you. We might even publish your letter!
Little Bang can be contacted at littlebangthemagazine@gmail.com
Who We Are
Audrey Niffenegger
Audrey Niffenegger is a writer and visual artist who lives and works in Chicago. She has published one novel and a variety of picture books. She is currently working on a graphic novel and a ghost story set in London's Highgate Cemetery, where she can often be found looking confused, trying to read the A-Z upside down. Audrey also drew the image for the Little Bang logo.
Benjamin Chandler
Among the things on Benjamin Chandler's To Do list include: finishing a novel about dinosaurs and regret, completing a series of Slovak landscapes rendered in oil pastel, and continuing to work on bird-based comic strips and Little Bang.
April Sheridan
Jill Summers
Jill's fiction has been featured internationally by Chicago Public Radio, the Third Coast International Audio Festival, and New Adventures in Sound Art. Her work has appeared in Stop Smiling Magazine, Ninth Letter, and The 2nd Hand and is forthcoming in RAGAD, Annalemma, and Please-Don't. Jill has received the Weisman Grant and an IL Arts Council Literary Award; is a two time Caxton Club Fellow; and was recently awarded a CAAP grant to produce a new collection of audio shorts. You can find her at www.callingallmonkeys.com.
Elisabeth Long
By day, Elisabeth Long works as the Co-director of the Digital Library Development Center at the University of Chicago, and by night she makes art with her Vandercook cylinder printing press in her studio in the Bridgeport neighborhood. In the in-between hours she involves herself in various book art related activities including teaching, lecturing, writing her artists' book blog, The Sign of the Owl, and serving as an editor for and working on Little Bang.
Meredith R Winer
Meredith is still recovering from having relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2002 but, having fallen in love with snow, is no longer welcome there as a resident. Her time is split among her current day job as Artist Coordinator of the artist residency program at River East Art Center near Navy Pier, arts consulting, making her own artwork, and writing, and seeing the occasional concert. She has been the recipient of the Albert P. Weisman Memorial Scholarship, a featured artist for 2007's Chicago Artists Month, and has made posters for Rock for Reading. Her work can be found through www.meredithrwiner.com
Stephen DeSantis
After 25 years of commercial photography and thin crust pizza in New York, Stephen moved to Chicago to study, teach, and get back to making art. He rediscovered his passion for writing and combines these texts and his photographs (and the occasional video) into handmade books. Currently, he teaches alternative photographic processes to anyone interested in the "old fashioned way" of making images, has developed several new fictional characters who are patiently waiting for him to give them a story to live in, and enjoys an apple pie milkshake whenever possible.
Lessa Bouchard
Lessa Bouchard is a multimedia artist from Detroit, now exiled to the wilds of Chicago, IL. She recently cowrote and directed Grey, a love story about Catholic priests, and is currently working on Consequences, an improvisational yet thoroughly devised video narrative. This summer she is also excited to be directing a production of Barbara Weichman's one act play Feeding the Moonfish with Core Project.
Jen Blair
Jen spends a lot of time personifying vegetation in writing and photography. She also makes books and pamphlets, and writes essays and poems about her social concerns. For a living Jen tells Returning Adult Students what classes to take in college, but she is perfectly happy to give you advice for free. You can email her at what.garden [at] gmail [dot] com. Jen has work published in Wicked Alice.
Erik Austin Deerly
Erik lives in Chicago where he works as an artist and teacher. In the late 1980’s he was denounced as a graphic designer who had no business making records. Years later it was suggested that he was a musician who had no business in the field of visual art. Both reviews were accurate. His work can be found through www.erikdeerly.com