Even before its release, Sabr Tooth Tiger Magazine is something of a success. Rarely does a new arts and literary journal receive more than 300 submissions for its first call. It’s even rarer that the first issue of a Chicago journal features so many people recognizable to the local literary scene, including Northwestern Professor Faisal Mohyuddin and the Written on the Napkin Reading Series host Tori Rego.
Even more unlikely, however, is the magazine’s founder and editor in chief, Madeline Blair, who graduated with a creative writing degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign just two years ago. Founding a magazine is a giant leap for a writer fresh into their career, though anyone who’s followed Blair’s assent knows she has the proper training.
At UIUC, Blair was the Editor in Chief of the undergraduate literary journal Montage and the Editor in Chief of the arts and culture magazine The Collective. She explored filmmaking the first year after graduation, but this past year turned her attention to her first love: literature and publishing. Sabr Tooth Tiger Magazine Issue One came together because Blair assigned herself many hats. She was its promoter, editor, and leader.
Now she’s excited to share the work at a launch party, December 4, at Sleeping Village. For the event Blair partnered with Clean Air Club and Save the Night Chicago to make the work as accessible as possible. E-books will be available internationally sometime after the event.
I enjoyed a Zoom conversation with Blair, wherein we spoke about her interests, literary ambitions, and the work that went into creating a magazine and managing its launch.
You say after working in film, you wanted to return to literature as your initial love. What is it about this medium and this art form, poetry or prose, that makes you want to be a part of it?
I think because it's so open and vulnerable, and it's a very intimate thing. Filmmaking is very collaborative, but it's not very personal, and I feel like the connections that you make among the literary community have so much depth to them. The craft of poetry is so fascinating and important to me. You know, I've studied craft a lot throughout college. I like the almost mathematical aspect to it, but mostly the vulnerability. Pouring your head on the page in a controlled sort of way is very exciting to share.
How did you assemble your team for the magazine?
A few months after getting into the scene in Chicago, I had befriended a lot of people that do reading series and work in publishing presses here. I built up quite a good network of friends and creative acquaintances. So when it came time to start reading for the magazine and opening submissions, I put out a call on my Instagram because that's the best way to do things nowadays, unfortunately. I was like, "Everyone, I'm starting this. If anyone wants to be a reader, please email me.” I sifted through all my applications. I had some friends from college, some friends even in different states and countries. So it's kind of like an international thing.
Were you surprised by the number of submissions you received?
I was surprised by how many submissions we got. We got about 300, which was just astounding for a first issue. It's a lot of pressure in a way because it's like, I want to do all these incredible poets, writers, and artists justice with this first issue. So, you know, it's a lot of pressure, but very exciting. I'm so grateful.
How did you get people—your readers, your editors, your contributors—invested in and excited about your vision? Was that a conscious effort or is that something that seemed to evolve?
I think it might be people seeing me so excited about it. When I started it, everyone was like, "That's great. That's so cool. We would love to hear more." I can't overstate how encouraging and warm and welcoming the Chicago community is in the literary scene. No one was like, “Oh, we already have something like this. Oh, there is already so many magazines here or in the world, et cetera.” That was not a thought on anyone's mind. Everyone was just like, “I'm so excited to see it.” And so when I asked people if they would want to be a part of it, I got about 14 people who wanted to help me with this immediately. That's a pretty sizeable team.
Throughout the magazine’s website there are references made to mind, body, and soul. What pulls you toward this kind of framing and how might we see it in the magazine?
A flower unfolding is the best metaphor I can use to explain the mission behind the magazine. The title itself is a double entendre, because we have, obviously, the saber tooth tiger, which is the prehistoric animal that I just find very cool. But the title is actually Sabr Tooth Tiger. “Sabr” is the Arabic word for patience, but it's not just in a passive , like being patient waiting in a queue. Generally, if there’s hardship or strife, the patience that you exhibit is the sort of strength in knowing there are brighter days ahead, and that you can get through anything. So I think that double entendre of the cuteness of the animal, but also the strength of the animal, and the Arabic word for patience, I just thought was fun.
When I had a meeting with my friend Evan Fusco, who runs the General Things series, we were talking about what my niche can be in the magazine. We thought the tripartite of sabr being patience, the mind; tooth being the body; and then tiger being spirit. So sort of bringing those three things into the greater chasm is the mission of the magazine. I just want to share a work that nourishes people in all those ways. So that's where that came from.
Are there any contributors you’re especially excited to publish?
There are a few. Faisal Mohyuddin. He also is a creative writing professor at Northwestern University. He has been such a champion for this magazine and been such a huge supporter.
We have Tori Rego, who's very good friend of mine that runs a reading series called Written on a Napkin. Ace Boggess who, in his bio, mentioned that he's an ex-con. That was so interesting to me because there is such a stigma around the prison industrial complex. To read work from someone who openly mentions that they are an ex-con, I thought that was really exciting.
There's a Norway-based artist named Stefanie Reinhart, who I personally reached out to because she makes very politically important art, spreading stories and uplifting narratives that are very dire.
Now turning to the launch party on December 4, could you please describe the event? Will there be readings or performances?
The launch event will consist of a variety of activities! We'll have readings by Satori, Benjamin Niespodziany, Phoebe Nerem, Dylan Terry, Sara Muttar, Gavin DuBois, Faisal Mohyuddin, and Jenny Whidden; artwork from Bushra Khan, Nathan Doty, and Bea Bouman; and music performance from Talha Waqar. Copies of the magazine will be available for purchase with a chance for contributors to sign their work, and we will have a Q&A panel to hear more from the contributors and invite conversation with the audience.
How did you go about planning the launch party?
I planned this launch event with a mixture of advice from others in the Chicago lit scene whose events I admired, my editorial team, and what I knew I wanted to see in an event. Sam Plauché with Raging Opossum Press was my introduction to and friend in the scene, and I had read for one of his press' events at Sleeping Village, so this venue opportunity was exciting to me. Another friend whose reading series I have previously been involved with, Tori Rego with Written on a Napkin, was generous enough to sit down with me and brainstorm together on exciting activities and aesthetics for the event. My editorial team hopped on sporadic meetings with me to iron out the logistics, meanwhile I reached out to all my contacts to secure the venue, readers, and artists.
Thank you so much for chatting.
Yeah, thank you so much for meeting with me and chatting about this. This is our first press for the magazine. I'm very honored and excited.
The Sabr Tooth Tiger Magazine launch party, takes place at Sleeping Village, December 4, from 6 to 9 pm. Find more information at their website.
