Thereby Hangs a Tale

Thereby Hangs a Tale explores stories that form around an idea, an object, an image, a place, an experience. One story sparks another, igniting a chain reaction of diverse voices. You know the kind of story we're talking about. The kind where you're all ears, hanging on every syllable. It doesn't matter if it's fact or fiction, about things great or things mundane, if it makes you laugh or makes you cry. After all, the key to a good story is in the telling.

So, go ahead. Tell us your tale.

Margaret Foley and Tiffany Talbott, Editors

NEW! Issue Two, The Birth Issue, received a nice review from New Pages, which said that the "overall sense of the journal is that it is sharing something intimate yet universal with its reader, which should keep it navigating for years to come."

This follows The Utne Reader, which praised The Expat Issue, our first issue, for its "weird and hilarious tales born of encounters with the unfamiliar."

While you're waiting for your issue to arrive, enjoy the following!

Interviews

With writers, with people we find intriguing, or with people engaged in weird and interesting projects.

NEW! Kirby Larson, author of Hattie Big Sky,which was a 2007 Newberry Honor book, talks about turning family history into fiction.

Recently, we inteviewed Monica Drake about clowns, and our guest interviewer Jackie Weissman chatted with Zia McCabe of the Dandy Warhols about music and motherhood. We've also talked flash animation poems and piano practice with poet and concert pianist Oni Buchanan; sex scenes with author Marc Acito; and music with Charlton Lee, founder of the Del Sol String Quartet.

Questions posed, questions answered — read about more fascinating people and projects here!

Show and Tale

Ongoing web feature. They say every picture has a story. We provide the picture, and you provide the story. Click above to see the current photo and its stories, and then click here to try your hand at writing one yourself! If we choose yours, we'll send you a Thereby Hangs a Tale refrigerator magnet.

Book Reviews

Might be a review of a new book or an old one. We might have picked it because we liked the cover or title, because we found it at the bus stop, or because it was left on our doorstep.

New! We decide it's time to review some books related to our first print issue's expat theme.

What does Tiffany take with her when she's banished to a deserted island to finish her novel?

What does Margaret think of fiction about her hometown, the birthplace of the atomic bomb?

Resources for Writers

Includes a collection of magazine directories, submission listings, and places we like to visit.

Want to Submit?

At last!

We've picked a theme for Issue 4 (Fall 2008), and Issue Four will be The Taste Issue!

Our submission period for The Taste Issue is now closed.

Check back in the summer for the next issue's guidelines.

Here's how to submit.