Alternative literature (or alt-lit) is a

literary movement Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features, as opposed to divisions by genre or period. Like other categorizations, literary movements provide language for comparing ...

strongly influenced by internet culture and online publishing. It includes various forms of

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

, and new media. Alt-lit is characterized by self-publication and a presence on social media networks. Alternative literature brings together people with a common interest in the online publishing world.

Origins

The term was first used to refer to this community of writers in the summer of 2011, when Tumblr and Twitter accounts named "Alt Lit Gossip" emerged, created by Cory Stephens (@outmouth).Roggenbuck, Steve, E.E. Scott, and Rachel Younghans, eds. "Introduction." ''The Yolo Pages''. Boost House, 2014. Print. The accounts covered writers from presses and publications such as

Muumuu House Muumuu House is an independent, small press publishing company based in Manhattan, New York that was founded by writer Tao Lin in 2008. Muumuu House publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in print and online. Muumuu House has published print b ...

, ''Pop Serial'', and ''HTMLgiant'' in a style akin to celebrity gossip sources like ''TMZ''. After a few months the original accounts were deleted; they were revived by Frank Hinton in the fall of 2011, and began to gain popularity.

Shared traits across Alt Lit

Alt Lit is often characterized by self-publication, self-promotion, and the maintenance of a presence on social media networks. Josh Soilker has said that Alt Lit is "in blog posts, videos, gchats and Facebook status updates. In PDFs and folded papers..." and that the movement's principal figures were Tao Lin, Noah Cicero and Brandon Scott Gorrell. Alt Lit writers share Gmail chat logs, image macros, screenshots, and tweets, which are then self-published as poetry books and/or novels. Writing for the ''New Yorker'',

Kenneth Goldsmith Kenneth Goldsmith (born 1961) is an American poet and critic. He is the founding editor of UbuWeb and since 2020 is the ongoing artist-in-residence at the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing (CPCW) at the University of Pennsylvania, where ...

characterized Alt Lit writing as "marked by direct speech, expressions of aching desire, and wide-eyed sincerity". He also noted that Alt Lit is "usually written in the Internet vernacular of lowercase letters, inverted punctuation, abundant typos, and bad grammar".

Authors and works

Literary magazines and blogs

Online and print Alt Lit magazines include ''SWAY Press'', ''Illuminati Girl Gang'', ''New Wave Vomit'', ''Pop Serial'', ''Shabby Doll House'', ''Have U Seen My Whale'', ''The Bushwick Review'', ''The Mall'', ''Keep This Bag Away From Children'', ''Everyday Genius'', ''Metazen'', ''Housefire'', ''UP Literature'', ''Parlor'', ''Sadcore Dadwave'', ''Red Lightbulbs'', and ''Unsure if i will allow my beard to grow for much longer''. Alt Lit news and creative blogs include ''Alt Lit Gossip'', ''I Am Alt Lit'', ''Internet Poetry'', ''HTMLGiant'', ''Beach Sloth'', ''Allthemacchs'', ''Heartcloud'', ''FRXTL'', ''Cutty Spot'', and ''Alt Lit Press''.

Presses and books

Presses publishing Alt Lit writing include Muumuu House, Civil Coping Mechanisms, Sorry House, Habitat, Boost House, Lazy Fascist, Macro, Nap, Scrambler Books, Publishing Genius, and Plain Wrap Press. Two anthologies of Alt Lit writing are ''The Yolo Pages'' (2014, Boost House) and ''40 Likely To Die Before 40: An Introduction to Alt Lit'' (2014, Civil Coping Mechanisms). More than 150 books, e-books, and zines of Alt Lit writing, mostly self-published, have been catalogued on the Tumblr blog ''Alt Lit Library''. Mellow Pages Library in Bushwick, Brooklyn, offers a wide selection of Alt Lit titles and hosts Alt Lit readings and book releases.

Authors

Alt Lit authors include

Jacob M. Appel Jacob M. Appel (born February 21, 1973) is an American author, poet, bioethicist, physician, lawyer and social critic.Nagamatsu, Sequoia "A Few Words with the Ubiquitous Jacob M. Appel" ''Prince Mincer'' Journal http://primemincer.com/ confirme ...

, Gabby Bess, Megan Schuirmann,

Megan Boyle Megan Boyle (born October 15, 1985) is an American writer and filmmaker. Boyle grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and rose to prominence among the Alt Lit Alternative literature (or alt-lit) is a literary movement strongly influenced by internet cult ...

Melissa Broder Melissa Broder is an author, essayist and poet. Her work includes novels ''The Pisces'' (Penguin Random House 2018) and ''Milk Fed''Simon and Schuster2021), the poetry collection ''Last Sext'' (Tin House 2016), and essay collection ''So Sad Today ...

, Ben Brooks,

Blake Butler John David Blake Butler (22 October 1924 – 15 April 1981) was an English actor best known for his role as the lecherous chief librarian Mr. Wainwright during the first and third series of '' Last of the Summer Wine'' in 1973 and 1976 re ...

Marie Calloway Marie Calloway is an American author. Her first book, ''what purpose did i serve in your life?'', was published by Tyrant Books and generated controversy. Part of the volume recounts the author's romantic relationship with a married journalist ...

Richard Chiem Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

Brendan Connell Brendan Connell (born 1970) is an American author and translator. Though his work often falls into the horror and fantasy genres, it has also often been called unclassifiable and avant-garde. His style has been compared to that of J.K. Huysmans an ...

Cecilia Corrigan Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for girls born ...

, Heiko Julien,

Noah Cicero Noah Cicero (born October 10, 1980) is an American novelist, short-story writer. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the author of six books of fiction and two ebooks. Cicero's stories, poetry, and essays have been published in magazines such ...

Claire Donato Clair or Claire may refer to: *Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire *Clair (surname) Places Canada * Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska * Clair Parish, New Brunswick * Pointe-Claire, Que ...

, Horse eBooks,

Elizabeth Ellen Elizabeth Ellen is an American author and editor living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is the author of the collection of short stories '' Fast Machine'', ''Before You She Was A Pitbull'', poetry collection ''Bridget Fonda'', and the novel ''Perso ...

Joshua Jennifer Espinoza Joshua Jennifer Espinoza (born December 17, 1987) is an American poet from Riverside, California. She is a Visiting Professor of English at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. Espinoza's works have been published in ''Poetry Magazine ...

Mira Gonzalez Mira Gonzalez (born May 28, 1992) is an American poet.Anisse Gross, September 15, 2015, ''Publishers Weekly''Four Questions for...Poet Mira Gonzalez Retrieved September 23, 2019 Her first collection, ''i will never be beautiful enough to make us b ...

Tao Lin Tao Lin (; born July 2, 1983) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. He has published four novels, a novella, two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a memoir, as well as an extensive assortment of ...

Scott McClanahan Scott McClanahan is an American writer, economist, explorer, and martial artist. He lives in Beckley, West Virginia and is the author of eight books. His most recent book, ''The Sarah Book'', was featured in Rolling Stone, Village Voice, and Pla ...

Spencer Madsen Spencer Madsen is a contemporary American poet and small press publisher. He is a Brooklyn-based contemporary writer as well as the founding editor of Sorry House, an independent publishing press in New York City. Madsen is part of a genre of inde ...

Guillaume Morissette Guillaume Morissette (born 1983) is a Canadian fiction writer and poet based in Montreal, Quebec. His work has frequently been associated with the Alt Lit movement, with ''Dazed & Confused'' magazine describing him as "Canada's Alt Lit poster boy. ...

Steve Roggenbuck Steve Roggenbuck (born November 11, 1987) is an American poet, blogger, and YouTuber. His works have gained notoriety and mild recognition for their reusing of motifs like typos, lack of punctuation, and exaggerated joy. In 2018, Roggenbuck was a ...

Beach Sloth A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells ...

, Tim Sanders,

Lauren Oyler Lauren Oyler is an American author and critic. Her debut novel, ''Fake Accounts'', was published in February 2021. Early life and education Oyler was born and raised in Hurricane, West Virginia, where she attended Hurricane High School. She g ...

, and

Patricia Lockwood Patricia Lockwood (born 27 April 1982) is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her 2021 debut novel, '' No One Is Talking About This,'' won the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her 2017 memoir ''Priestdaddy'' won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He ...

Related concepts and movements

Many writers and critics in and around the Alt Lit community have proposed different labels to be used in conjunction with or in place of "Alt Lit."

New Sincerity

Some critics have linked Alt Lit writers with

New Sincerity New Sincerity (closely related to and sometimes described as synonymous with post-postmodernism) is a trend in music, aesthetics, literary fiction, film criticism, poetry, literary criticism and philosophy that generally describes creative w ...

, to the point of using the terms interchangeably. Notable Alt Lit writers such as

and

have also been grouped under the label "New Sincerity", but many Alt Lit writers reject the influence of

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...

and prominent mainstream exponents of a "New Sincerity" such as

Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel '' The Corrections'', a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Pr ...

. The New Sincerity connection entails the use of an array of literary techniques intended to create the impression of "sincere" communication, ranging from autobiography, self-revision and a conversational tone to minimal punctuation and sans-serif fonts.

Autofiction

Many Alt Lit writers, including Megan Boyle and Tao Lin, write autobiographical fiction or

autofiction In literary criticism, autofiction is a form of fictionalized autobiography. Autofiction combines two mutually inconsistent narrative forms, namely autobiography and fiction. An author may decide to recount their life in the third person, to mod ...

References

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External links

''Alt Lit Gossip''
Literary movements Internet culture Postmodern literature Mass media about Internet culture