128 Lit

128 LIT

128 LIT's first issue, October 2022
Editor	Avrina Prabala-Joslin Sean Sam Paco Márquez
Categories	Literature, art, politics
Founder	Andrew Felsher Yehui Zhao
Founded	February 2022
First issue	October 2022
Country	United States
Based in	New York City

128 Lit (stylized as 128 LIT) is a literary magazine and multimedia project based in New York City with an "international focus." Founded by Andrew Felsher and Yehui Zhao in February of 2022, the publication publishes and showcases poetry, fiction, essays, translation, art, and other diverse forms of media in both print and online forms. In 2023, it won a Firecracker Award from the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses for Magazine / Best Debut.

History

The publication was founded in 2022 by Felsher, a writer, and Zhao, a multimedia artist and filmmaker. That year, they designed the publication's website with some of Zhao's risograph art in mind and reached out to editors and writers. The first issue of 128 Lit was published in October of 2022, and the publication held several events at Black Spring Books, Wordup Community Bookshop, People's Forum, and others; they also had stands at Indie Lit Fair and Rehearsal Artbook Fair. Initial contributors to the magazine's first issues included Kim Hyesoon, Don Mee Choi, Jackie Wang, Vi Khi Nao, Sarah Ghazal Ali, Chime Lama, María Ospina, Jhani Randhawa, Celina Su, and others.

In 2024, Felsher had a "Cosmic Talk" with Wang which led to the publication's interest in interrogating colonial structures and subsequently producing their second issue, "What is home?" Several of the issue's pieces were later featured in the inaugural anthology, Best Literary Translations 2024, published by Deep Vellum, guest-edited by Jane Hirshfield, and co-edited by Noh Anothai, Wendy Call, Öykü Tekten, and Kola Tubosun.

Felsher stated that the decision to publish in both print and online forms was financially difficult but necessary with regard to inclusivity. He described the online form as an accessibility advantage for international audiences but acknowledged the "tactile experience" of the print form: "this is why Yehui Zhao, our art director and cofounder, dedicates significant effort to designing the print edition that harmonizes seamlessly with our digital platform."

Felsher also said that the publication was interested in continuing to expand their production of chapbooks. In 2023, 128 LIT announced their first International Chapbook Contest which was judged by Mona Kareem, Saddiq Dzukogi, and Jacques Fux. The contest, soliciting manuscripts between 20 to 40 pages in either prose or poetry, would award $1,200 and publication. In November of 2023, it was announced that My Women by Yuliia Iliukha and translated into English from Ukrainian by Hanna Leliv won the contest.

In an interview with CLMP, Felsher stated that film had an enormous influence on the publication, citing filmmakers Kidlat Tahimik and Abbas Kiarostami, theorist Trinh T. Minh-ha, and writers Raúl Zurita, bell hooks, Frantz Fanon, and Ilya Kaminsky as crucial to the "ethos of 128 LIT." In Epoch, Felsher additionally named Franz Kafka, Jamaica Kincaid, Frida Kahlo, and Wang Xiaobo as important to his and Zhao's concept of the publication.

Name

The number 128 was chosen for "its exponential nature: 2 raised to the power of 7." Felsher stated for CLMP that an exponential calculation "recognizes the compounding effects of socioeconomic, emotional, and linguistic conditions" similarly to how the publication intends to interrogate them.

Accolades

In 2023, one year after its founding, 128 Lit won the CLMP Firecracker Award for debut magazines. The jury stated it was "bursting with boldness and energy" and lauded its mission of "disrupting Eurocentric narratives and aesthetics", calling it "both admirable and well-executed within the journal's contents." It also called the contributors list "diverse and talented" and concluded "The weaving of literature and art and the thoughtful layout—along with a clean and clearly organized site—is splendid." An award celebration picnic was held in Prospect Park afterward.